The Shack: You have questions, we have propaganda
By Ross Miller 
posted August 4th 2009 12:27AM
posted August 4th 2009 12:27AM
posted August 4th 2009 12:27AM
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THE SHACK needs to recognize that referring to one's self in the third person is pretentious and annoying.
Uh... What company DOESN'T refer to itself in 3rd person? Especially in adverts?
It's not so much the 3rd person point of view (that's normal for a company) as the "The" in it. Imaging if other companies did that e.g. The Microsoft, The Apple, The Chad :P
The store is called "The Shack" though, not "Shack", just as it's called "Microsoft" and not "The Microsoft."
The Home Depot does this. What's the big deal?
Don't tell me you've never heard an ad for "The Home Depot". They've been pulling that since forever.
"The Home Depot" is a title that consists of 3 words that describe the business. "The Shack" is only 2 words and describes nothing even remotely related to consumer electronics. That is the difference.
In Soviet Russia,... the Shack is you.
(yeah yeah, i know is called the Russian Federation, but i like soviet russia better)
in soviet russia you live in shacks
What year is this? 1988? Everyone is rebranding to "The whatever". Pizza Hut is now The Hut, Radio Shack of course, and I heard rumors about Circuit City rebranding as The City months before they shut down.
They say this Shack is a bad mother--
shut yo' mouth!
I think it's kind of sad to see them lower themselves to the same level as a mall kiosk.
Yeah! I mean, Radio Shack has been synonymous with electronics and hobbies and "The Shack" seems to be like... Generic.
@Aguiluz: The whole point is they don't want to be synonymous with DIY electronics and hobbies anymore, where it's all old people walking in to buy $2 parts and batteries. They want to become more of a destination for phones and GPSes and other things that people mostly go to Best Buy or Wal-Mart for.
I understand that they don't want to be the cool guy electronics store anymore but " The SHACK is a hug for your mobile life" is going too far. As a glorified cell phone store they had better get some better/nicer salesmen because compared to the nice guys at sprint they are incredibly pushy and rude.
@sacapuntas:
Which store is being pushy and rude? Give me their phone number - I'll give them a talk.
At our store, we do everything short of sexual favors to get a phone sale. Remember when Engadget posted that article about Palm Pres being $99 at Best Buy? I called up my boss (it happened to be his off day) so that he could drive down to the local Best Buy, pilfer the ad and have one of their sales associates copy the sales tags so that we could do a price match (the only way to do a price match from a competitor is to have the ad in hand as proof).
This looks like something you'd find on Engrish.com
Do they still have the fracking annoying chime that sounds whenever you open their door?
That's why nobody wants to go in those places.
I feel like a thief everytime I enter lol
I actually make it a little game to line myself up perfectly with someone else entering, so it only dings once.
Other times, I stand near the door looking at something and just swing my leg in front of the thing.
Could you imagine if they had one of those at a best buy
Love the reference. The Shack is not Radio Shack. The Shack was never Radio Shack.
1984 FTW!
The shack is good, the shack is great, we surrender our wills as of this date.
All hail our glorious new the shack!
Yes, but it WAS Radio Shaq.
R.I.P. "Radio" Shack, 2009
*facepalm*
This is stupid by definition...
successful troll was successful
The Shack is Ignorance? Wait, let me try again. The Shack is Peace... no, that didn't work. You guys are too clever for me.
i kind of like it. am i the only one??
Yes.
sounds douchy like The Hut
You have questions, We have morons.
You have questions, we have batteries!
I thought it was "you have questions we can't answer" or was it "we have answers you can't can't question".
so... When's the Shaq going to sue them?
God damn it. I thought I was the only one to think of him.
I believe they still have a binding contract w/ Shaq. He did some ads for them in '03 because of this similar naming.
Now that Pizza Hut is also renaming itself to "The Hut," we may now have an answer to the epic question: Which is better, The Shack or The Hut?
In some places, I heard Circuit City had renamed itself, 'The City'. Think about that.
Also, instead of thinking which one of the two is the best, think, which company should rename itself in the same fashion:
Best Buy - The Buy
CompUSA - The USA (I know it's pretty much dead, but it sounded too good)
NewEgg - The Egg
Engadget - The 'dGet (pronounced 'Jet')
Albertsons - The 'Sons
Safeway - The Way
Costco - The 'Co
Comedy Central - The Central
I gots more, but I gotta go.
I think you've done enough here.
That worked well for Circuit City
I call newegg "The egg" all the time, and I'd shop the hell out of a place called "The Co.".
Also, I am a consumer whore.
Okay, face change, image change, I get that. But, the kids (strike that) DWEEBS behind the counter are the same DWEEBS delivering pizzas yesterday? Alrighty then...
You must be talking about Best Buy or Walmart, because the Radioshacks in my city pride themselves on hiring extremely knowledgeable employees. Seriously they are really picky.
I've worked for Radioshack for the last year, and anything I didn't know coming in is taught in their required certifications. I cannot say the same for the Best Buy I worked at, where they will put someone who doesn't even own a computer into PCHO (personal computing and home office) as a supervisor.
Hmm... That'd be refreshing to find. In the last 10-15 years, I've been to RatShack's all over the country and I've never found one that was staffed with intelligence. We may be talking about different levels though.
Back in the 70's and through the 80's you could go in and have conversations with the staff about opamps and power supplies. These days the only conversation I've ever been involved in is being asked how I like my cell plan and how much I would prefer to be on Sprint. The employees are often disheveled, shirt tails hanging out, cigarette packs in their shirt pockets. I've often seen their lunch on the counter as well.
Two weeks ago I stood waiting to pay for something and had to listen to the counter talking a customer into a 12vdc car adapter because it was "faster" than the one that the guy was looking to replace. I wanted to get involved and talk about charging currents and such, but I more wanted to just get the heck out of the store.
And BestBuy... Gawd, I won't even walk into one.
BUT WAIT! THERES MOAR
Ugh, I work for these people. This entire shack thing is rediculous. Now we have to answer the phone 'Thank you for calling the Shack, your home for the best value in wireless.' I really need a new job >.