Psst, Vince? The DX merchandise plug humor is NOT funny

[Ambiguous Turd]

It has been said by myself and many others that the true reason DX has been reformed is to once again sell merchandise. Vince has neon glowsticks, DX t-shirts, hats, and now even snuggies he wants to sell.

Can you imagine this, a once edgy, badass group now reduced to being a bunch of company guys trying to push merchandise sales with something they supposed to be against everything they stood for as a group-- Corporate America. Now, they are pushing said merchandise for the company and for Vince McMahon.

Over the years, the merchandise shilling has went from simply wearing the merchandise to absolutely in your face shilling, albeit in attempted humorous mocking fashion. What's the problem? The shilling is absolutely not funny in any way. Whenever DX pushes the merchandise in these "comedic spots", nobody laughs. The problem is that DX has gone to the well once too often with these ridiculous spots, and have beaten them into the ground.

DX is not cool. They aren't funny. They are a bunch of 40 year old Merchandise pushers who Vince wants to pretend are actually half their ages. And this piss-poor attempt at humor with the *wink *wink *nudge *nudge antics to the fans, went out of popularity at least 5 years ago.

This is very similar to Mick Foley humor where he used to do the cheap City plug each and every week. However as the weeks, months, and eventually years went by, the pops and reactions kept getting quieter, and quieter, and quieter. And today, Foley is unfortunately a shell of his former self, and nobody thinks the guy is funny anymore.

The same situation applies in DX's case. They are not just "getting older" ... rather, they are now "getting old". They have done this supposed-to-be-funny merchandise plugs for some time now. And to "add a little spice" to the matter, now we've inserted Hornswoggle into the equation with Vince hoping that DX's supposed "coolness" will rub off on Hornswoggle, so that the little ones will want to actually buy Hornswoggle merchandise.

But if DX is not perceived as "cool", then Hornswoggle certainly isn't going to get a rub.

You sit and the crowd sit in silence as DX tries to push their gimmicks onto the fans. And the only things I see people actually buying are the glowsticks. And those things essentially sell themselves, to the point where DX doesn't really even have to push them. The rest of the stuff, unfortunately they do.

It's time these cheap attempts at humor cease. Certainly, there are other ways to try and push merchandise without doing these garbage segments which nobody finds funny to begin with. That is why hiring the right creative people for the job is critical. Donna Goldsmith was promoted from SVP of Consumer Products to COO of the company. Certainly, if anyone should be consulted, it would be her, since you were obviously happy with her work enough to promote her. What advice/ideas can she give?

And since we aren't likely to find out publicly what that advice would be, that's where you all come in. Please answer these quick questions.



1) The whole goal of DX being formed is to sell merchandise, by coming off as appealing to the young, hip crowd. Do you find DX to have the image enough to appear to be "hip" enough to appeal to that audience?


2) Next, I'd like to hear your honest opinion on whether or not you find the (intended) comedic DX segments where they "push merchandise" funny?


3) If you do find them funny, do the segments motivate you to go out and buy the merchandise being advertised?


4) If you like DX, but are not a fan of these segments and they don't motivate you to buy their merchandise, is there any other techniques you feel that would be more successful at selling DX merchandise, or do you feel that Shawn Michaels and Triple H are simply too old to continue in this particular gimmick to sell merchandise to their target audience?

 

[Dagger Dias]

1) The whole goal of DX being formed is to sell merchandise, by coming off as appealing to the young, hip crowd. Do you find DX to have the image enough to appear to be "hip" enough to appeal to that audience?

Are you sure that merchandise isn't just part of the why they got back together? I actually thought that one of the main reasons was to win the tag team titles. Back in the 2006 run they could have won the belts from Rated RKO before Triple H got hurt, rather than Cena and Michaels. That might have led to a possible match between them at Wrestlemania 23, not that Cena VS HBK wasn't awesome, because it was. I see something like that happening now, and them getting back together to sell merchandise is probably only half of the reason.

I don't necessarily find their image to be "hip" enough to appeal to the audience, but there are enough older fans who remember them and might still think it's funny. I'm speaking as one of them. Some of the newer fans probably think it's funny too.

2) Next, I'd like to hear your honest opinion on whether or not you find the (intended) comedic DX segments where they "push merchandise" funny?

Yeah I do actually. I find these to be entertaining every time DX does them. It is an interesting way to sell the merchandise. I can understand that some people don't like it, but I find it funny. I have a different sense of humor than most people though. Sarcasm and randomness are almost always hilarious to me.

3) If you do find them funny, do the segments motivate you to go out and buy the merchandise being advertised?

Actually.... yes. If I had enough money I would go and order a lot of the items that DX plugs during their comedic segments about the merchandise. Many of these things look cool and the randomness of the segments make me want to buy them more. I have studied a lot of these types of things at school, me being a marketing major, and it works very well.

4) If you like DX, but are not a fan of these segments and they don't motivate you to buy their merchandise, is there any other techniques you feel that would be more successful at selling DX merchandise, or do you feel that Shawn Michaels and Triple H are simply too old to continue in this particular gimmick to sell merchandise to their target audience?

I do like DX and their segments but it wouldn't hurt them to try something new. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that they could do, but I would like to see them try other ways to advertise the items. This has worked well for a while now though and perhaps DX should keep doing what they have been doing because they are getting old in real life, but once or twice of trying a different approach would be interesting and I'm sure they could pull it off and still keep merchandise sales high because it's DX, they will remain popular unless they do something incredibly stupid.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm not going through all of what was said, so I'll sum it up easily: they make me laugh.

You can't look at DX the way they used to be looked at. it's like comparing the original ECW to what's on now. You have to take the DX bits with a grain of salt and for what they are, they're funny. I'm not going to go out and buy their stuff (other than most DVDs but I do taht anyway) but I get a chuckle out of some of their inside jokes. It's noit exactly the election speech but it's still amusing. That's what they're good at so why not use it?

 

[HBK-aholic]

1) The whole goal of DX being formed is to sell merchandise, by coming off as appealing to the young, hip crowd. Do you find DX to have the image enough to appear to be "hip" enough to appeal to that audience?

"Hip" is the wrong word to use. However, whether you like them or not, if we look at the amount of DX shirts, and green glow sticks in the crowd every night, I think it's safe to say DX are definitely appealing to a lot of people.

2) Next, I'd like to hear your honest opinion on whether or not you find the (intended) comedic DX segments where they "push merchandise" funny?

I love them and I don't understand the hatred at all. DX are a great team and the only place I see so much hate for them is on this forum. The DX/Hornswoggle segments are not the best thing DX have done, but I don’t understand why they’re seen as SO bad.

3) If you do find them funny, do the segments motivate you to go out and buy the merchandise being advertised?

I own a load of DX shirts, I think that speaks for itself. DX have evolved, they're not supposed to be the same as they once were, being anti-management, people need to realise that.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

You know what? I find a lot of those segments funny. I think mainly its because we've grown up with DX a bit. We were with them back in 97 and we're with them now, only it's different. We're older and smarter now, so when they make little inside jokes or have Arn Anderson cameos and chat with Dusty Rhodes about the Shockmaster, we laugh alongside with them. I find them funny, and whilst they aren't ALWAYS 100% spot on, I find a lot of the stuff funny. Who cares if it's shilling, because they'll often address their opponents also, and it probably does sell a few glow sticks here and there. So cheer up Sid.

 

[sleamey316]

I love DX too. I'm not too fond of them having to use Hornswoggle. But DX are great. Even though they are now in their 40's they are still great wrestlers and great on the mic. And as for the way they act - its called having a bit of fun. Just because you get older doesn't mean you should stop having fun. And I'd like to point out the amount of glow sticks, shirts and signs in the crowd every week for DX.

 

[sammysrh]

It has been said by myself and many others that the true reason DX has been reformed is to once again sell merchandise. Vince has neon glowsticks, DX t-shirts, hats, and now even snuggies he wants to sell.

Can you imagine this, a once edgy, badass group now reduced to being a bunch of company guys trying to push merchandise sales with something they supposed to be against everything they stood for as a group-- Corporate America. Now, they are pushing said merchandise for the company and for Vince McMahon.

Over the years, the merchandise shilling has went from simply wearing the merchandise to absolutely in your face shilling, albeit in attempted humorous mocking fashion. What's the problem? The shilling is absolutely not funny in any way. Whenever DX pushes the merchandise in these "comedic spots", nobody laughs. The problem is that DX has gone to the well once too often with these ridiculous spots, and have beaten them into the ground.

DX is not cool. They aren't funny. They are a bunch of 40 year old Merchandise pushers who Vince wants to pretend are actually half their ages. And this piss-poor attempt at humor with the *wink *wink *nudge *nudge antics to the fans, went out of popularity at least 5 years ago.

This is very similar to Mick Foley humor where he used to do the cheap City plug each and every week. However as the weeks, months, and eventually years went by, the pops and reactions kept getting quieter, and quieter, and quieter. And today, Foley is unfortunately a shell of his former self, and nobody thinks the guy is funny anymore.

The same situation applies in DX's case. They are not just "getting older" ... rather, they are now "getting old". They have done this supposed-to-be-funny merchandise plugs for some time now. And to "add a little spice" to the matter, now we've inserted Hornswoggle into the equation with Vince hoping that DX's supposed "coolness" will rub off on Hornswoggle, so that the little ones will want to actually buy Hornswoggle merchandise.

But if DX is not perceived as "cool", then Hornswoggle certainly isn't going to get a rub.

You sit and the crowd sit in silence as DX tries to push their gimmicks onto the fans. And the only things I see people actually buying are the glowsticks. And those things essentially sell themselves, to the point where DX doesn't really even have to push them. The rest of the stuff, unfortunately they do.

It's time these cheap attempts at humor cease. Certainly, there are other ways to try and push merchandise without doing these garbage segments which nobody finds funny to begin with. That is why hiring the right creative people for the job is critical. Donna Goldsmith was promoted from SVP of Consumer Products to COO of the company. Certainly, if anyone should be consulted, it would be her, since you were obviously happy with her work enough to promote her. What advice/ideas can she give?

And since we aren't likely to find out publicly what that advice would be, that's where you all come in. Please answer these quick questions.



1) The whole goal of DX being formed is to sell merchandise, by coming off as appealing to the young, hip crowd. Do you find DX to have the image enough to appear to be "hip" enough to appeal to that audience?


2) Next, I'd like to hear your honest opinion on whether or not you find the (intended) comedic DX segments where they "push merchandise" funny?


3) If you do find them funny, do the segments motivate you to go out and buy the merchandise being advertised?


4) If you like DX, but are not a fan of these segments and they don't motivate you to buy their merchandise, is there any other techniques you feel that would be more successful at selling DX merchandise, or do you feel that Shawn Michaels and Triple H are simply too old to continue in this particular gimmick to sell merchandise to their target audience?

1. No They hardly appeal to the NEW audience! They try but if you pay attention they get no reaction when they try selling merchandise. WHY? Because no one gives two shits if two old shits are up there selling green bands that have DX on it.. They just want to watch the program. But the other 20% is crazy for it ..


2. You want my 150% honest opinion? Ill give it to you.. very first time i saw them do their merchandise skit, I just passed it and didnt really care. The second time (next week after) they did merchandise sales in a funny way it was for a while promoting it. I got REALLY annoyed the first thing i said OUTLOUD was "what the fuck!! this is taking time off the god damn show fucking advertising merchandise!"


3. Not even remotely funny.. So i dont qualify for this answer ^_^


4. Well me personally am not going out to go buy DX merchandise JUST BECAUSE its on TV. But I think a good idea would be a big banner across the bottom of the TV while they talk saying DX merch on sale 40% off or something like that lol.. Like a banner that only people on tv can see at the bottom while they talk.. BUT while its up you cant have them talk about it for half the segment. That just takes away from the show.

 

[billm75]

Personally, I like the fact that it's corny. Just wish they'd shorten the sketches a bit, to give more time to wrestling or other story lines. Haven't heard from Kofi for a while, or Orton for that matter. Hell, the Miz is almost forgotten about.

But on to your points:

1) The whole goal of DX being formed is to sell merchandise, by coming off as appealing to the young, hip crowd. Do you find DX to have the image enough to appear to be "hip" enough to appeal to that audience?
I don't think they're supposed to appear as "hip", they're appearing just how they should be...Older wrestlers, who have lost their hip-factor, but still continue on, oblivious to the fact that they're no longer cool in the traditional sense. It's comedy, the sad part is, they're not the best actors.


2) Next, I'd like to hear your honest opinion on whether or not you find the (intended) comedic DX segments where they "push merchandise" funny?
I find it funny, but not "laugh-out-loud" funny. It's amusing to see them hawking their stuff to everyone in that 1980's info-mercial style.

3) If you do find them funny, do the segments motivate you to go out and buy the merchandise being advertised?
No, the segments don't motivate ME to buy it, but then, no advertising really ever sways my opnion on whether or not to make a purchase. I have my own mind, can make my own decisions. However, being able to see the merchandise that is available is helpful to those who want to purchase something different or new from the DX line of stuff.


4) If you like DX, but are not a fan of these segments and they don't motivate you to buy their merchandise, is there any other techniques you feel that would be more successful at selling DX merchandise, or do you feel that Shawn Michaels and Triple H are simply too old to continue in this particular gimmick to sell merchandise to their target audience?
Their gimmick connects just fine. It's not meant to lure you in and say "Hey, they're really hip and "with-it" let's be like them and buy that stuff!!!!" The gimmick is there to put them out as a couple of really bad, shameless salesmen, trying to make a quick buck and go above and beyond the company's own efforts to sell it. As if they're saying "We want to be the #1 draw in merchandise sales, and we're going to push it ourselves to insure it".

If they'd just shorten the length of the bits, they'd go over better. However, you'd have to be dead not to enjoy the most recent segment where Triple H knocked over HBK's wrestling ring, just to segue into a spot for a DX Branded Snuggie. It's classic, corny sitcom humor. Just go with it....

 

[Suneeboy]

Let's all cut to the chase here. OF COURSE ITS NOT FUNNY. Its cheesy potty humor, which consists of jokes you forget as soon as the segment is over. I honestly don't know why it's still over, it's actually annoying to me. However we are going to see it, until people stop popping for it.

We can say whatever we want Sidious, but just accept it. Wrestling is not for wrestling fans anymore. Wrestling is about merchandise sales and about TV ratings. Whatever can be done to boost those things will be done. What we must now do is just accept what we are given, and enjoy the few segments that actually are entertaining, and just walk away from the rest. It won't go away. It actually was always there, but it was just more subtle. We are adults now. We can see through the smoke and mirrors and nit pick as we see fit. In the end all it will do is annoy us.

Wrestling as a whole has changed. We are the old school now. I have accepted it. We have lost. TNA is showing signs, but they aren't the answer. It is the WWE that we need. The WWE is the biggest, and was always the best. It will never be that way again. Its a public company now. There are retail and institutional investors now. It isn't the same. Accept it. Complain all you want, it will never change, and the discussion is honestly an exercise in futility. Just watch and support the segments and characters you like, and turn on Monday Night Football or Heroes when the divas, Hornswaggle, Chris Masters pec dancing, or whoever else comes on.

Yes DX is not funny. But they are selling merchandise so we are stuck with them. We can't tell Vince, the people buying the stuff have to tell him.

 

[robwylde90]

DX = Not funny.

It's embarassing to see two has-beens try to shill any kind of merch they can get their hands on, that's my opinion, unfortunately the kids love it and that's exactly why Vince is a billionaire.

Now just to make it clear , I don't find these skits funny but I have really been that annoyed by them, at first anyway. But the same joke over and over over again, its like watching a season of King of Queens for the love of God ie Painful.

If DX want to continue the childish humour while appearing as shells of them former selves then they can be my guest but come on guys, not every week.

Just one more point, the Carlito and Masters slammy skit was funnier than all of DXs skits since they reformed, put together. Oh yes.

 

[Blade]

Wow, some crazy contradictions going on here.

Why the hell would DX try aim their merch to, as Sidious called them, the "hip" crowd? WWE is PG now, they're aiming towards kids. Call me crazy, but kids aren't exactly hip. Are you implying that DX are aiming their ads towards IWC people? Well, we're not hip either. If we were, we wouldn't be in the fan minority. So you'll have to explain the whole idea of supposely selling merch to the hip crowd because right now, there's no such thing in wrestling.

2. You want my 150% honest opinion? Ill give it to you.. very first time i saw them do their merchandise skit, I just passed it and didnt really care. The second time (next week after) they did merchandise sales in a funny way it was for a while promoting it. I got REALLY annoyed the first thing i said OUTLOUD was "what the fuck!! this is taking time off the god damn show fucking advertising merchandise!"

I had to answer this, it was annoying the hell out of me.
WWE is a business. Their only goal is to make money... Well, to make money while not breaking the law. *cough*. Anyway, if they make more money from advertising their merch instead of having a 5 minute match in its place, then they're doing their job well. It's all about money. Get over it.

As for the question of whether or not the skits are funny, well I enjoy them. They're not, as the kids (or should I say "hip" people) say, "Lol" funny. They make me grin. They're entertaining. I'm ok with that. I think it's clever the way they poke fun at themselves and those infomercials that everyone hates so much.

 

[RVDgurl]

1) The whole goal of DX being formed is to sell merchandise, by coming off as appealing to the young, hip crowd. Do you find DX to have the image enough to appear to be "hip" enough to appeal to that audience?

Yep. Kids eat up the DX stuff. DX 2009 is alot more kid friendly- ya know, PG. Obviously the DX of old were geared more towards entertaining the adults, not as directed these days. DX is like the class clown at school. Most kids appreciate that.

2) Next, I'd like to hear your honest opinion on whether or not you find the (intended) comedic DX segments where they "push merchandise" funny?

I do. But I will admit that I love stupid comedy. These segments are so in-your-face ridiculous that I can't help but crack a smile. What better way to push merchandise than be absolutely blatant about it.

3) If you do find them funny, do the segments motivate you to go out and buy the merchandise being advertised?

Absolutely not. I'm not really a DX fan, per se. Trips and HBK are just ok, for me. I could enjoy wrestling just as much with or without them.

 

[jonathanephillips]

I actually enjoy the segments, as I find it to be one of the most watchable segments on the show (i don't really think the storylines are very attention grabbing these days).

Also, while the original DX started as a group of rebellious, non censored degenerates, many new fans do not remember these days and the new family friendly programming would not allow for DX to be the edgy pornographic team they used to be.... I do like the humor and how they act stupid... as I'm sure many teen guys like it, and college guys because that's how they act with their friends... however i respect your opinion on the subject and see where you're coming from.