The Death of the DJ's Favorite

[emaidel]

Depending on where one looks, the SL-1200 is, or isn't, going to be discontinued. Panasonic stated that they have no intention of discontinuing the Technics brand, and many DJ loyalists have misquoted that as Panasonic having no intention of discontinuing the SL-1200.

As I've stated before, this isn't the first time Technics has claimed to be discontinuing the SL-1200, and may again be a marketing ploy to create additional demand for the product. There's nothing wrong with that really, but once they eventually do decide to discontinue the turntable, no one will believe them. That is, until dealers no longer can purchase it.

This is remarkably similar to a marketing ploy done in the 60's with a toothpaste called, "Plus White." There was a late night talk show called "The Les Crane Show," in which the host, Les Crane, used a "shotgun" microphone in a theatre in the round to get questions from his audience. Crane was one of the then popular "confrontational" type hosts, who were arrogant, and generally quite unpleasant.

One night, Crane spoke directly into the camera, seemingly very candidly, stating that he had sworn never to endorse a product on his show, but that he came across one that was so remarkably good, and that worked so wonderfully well, that he just "had" to say something about it. That product was Plus White toothpaste - a highly abrasive toothpaste that did remove stains very well, but did a pretty nasty job on teeth enamel too.

The next day, I went to a local drugstore to purchase a tube, and found that there was only one left in the store. The pharmacist said that he had no idea why the product simply sat on the shelves for so long, and then suddenly, sold out in only a few hours one morning.

The whole point of course, was to judge whether or not there was an audience for the Les Crane show, and whether or not whatever he had to say was taken seriously by the general population. Plus White toothpaste sold out all over the place, but eventually the Les Crane show was cancelled due to low ratings. The show, and Les Crane himself, were both simply awful.

So, maybe Pansonic is doing a similar thing with repeatedly leaking reports that the SL-1200 is going to be discontinued. We'll all see whether that's true or not, once March passes, as that's the time at which the turntable is supposedly no longer going to be available.

Any bets from anyone?