PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT about Butterfly Labs, what to say?

[Entropy-uc]

I have purchased on slot in next weeks ad round for an ad warning newbs about BFL.  I am looking for suggestions on content, and formatting.

My first thought is the following text:

WARNING:  Butterfly Labs has a long history of failing to deliver as promised.  Paying for their incomplete ASIC could be a huge money loser.

Anybody know some HTML to make that pretty?

Any other suggestions?

Coins sent to 1LuyJib375mAcyQLBJtT9sMNoQzKp2jcSx  will be used to bid on future ad slots.

[PuertoLibre]

What are the ad rules for the content?

Any imagery or only formatted text?

[miter_myles]

[PuertoLibre]

I assume they do allow linking within BitCoinTalk.

I suggest you build a eye catching text that [supposedly] leads people to a great deal for BFL hardware and then hit them with a well concieved post or image that will tell them the truth. What they are about to purchase has had nothing but heartache for customers. The CS agent is an asshole (king of the assholes) and they never deliver on time.

The first hit should be breaking the myths of the "get rich quick scheme" followed by real *disappointed* customer quotes.

A BFL customer would have to be extremely retarded to go ahead with the purchase. I would recommend keeping in mind there are two kinds of customers.

!) The ones with high expectation. (so burst their bubble with actual reality)

!) The newbies who assume they will make a ton of cash but don't know anything about who BFL is, what they do and don't do, and what they can actually expect.

God knows the BFL forum is now a major repellent to any newbie who thinks of purchasing or does purchase and changes their mind after reading all the crap that goes on.

[PuertoLibre]

I assume they do allow linking within BitCoinTalk.

I suggest you build a eye catching text that [supposedly] leads people to a great deal for BFL hardware and then hit them with a well concieved post or image that will tell them the truth. What they are about to purchase has had nothing but heartache for customers. The CS agent is an asshole (king of the assholes) and they never deliver on time.

The first hit should be breaking the myths of the "get rich quick scheme" followed by real *disappointed* customer quotes.

A BFL customer would have to be extremely retarded to go ahead with the purchase. I would recommend keeping in mind there are two kinds of customers.

!) The ones with high expectation. (so burst their bubble with actual reality)

!) The newbies who assume they will make a ton of cash but don't know anything about who BFL is, what they do and don't do, and what they can actually expect.

God knows the BFL forum is now a major repellent to any newbie who thinks of purchasing or does purchase and changes their mind after reading all the crap that goes on.

Good ideas.  I don't have time to set up a web site, but if anyone would like to I would link to it.  The site needs to stick to facts.

We could link to an image that has all the details burned in. So a website wouldn't be necessary.

Or you could create a BitcoinTalk thread in the off-topic section and that way you could allow other members to give them a good straight talk after the initial reality shock treatment. (heh)

For now I was thinking of linking to an original thread from the announcement of October delivery last June.  I find it strange that those threads are buried in 'Off-Topic'

I want to stick to simple facts that dash cold water in the face of newbs.  The cult followers cannot be helped.  And I have no sympathy for fools and their money.  But I hate that many people's first experiences with Bitcoin is being ripped off.  This is my public service to Bitcoin.  It deserves more from me, but it's a start.

I'll be around to help you as much as I can.

[theymos]

I suggest you build a eye catching text that [supposedly] leads people to a great deal for BFL hardware

Ads can't be deceptive like this.

Before anyone suggests it: For legal reasons and to avoid too much drama, you can't make assertions of fact that are potentially damaging and possibly false. For example, you can't say, "BFL is a scam," or, "BFL will never deliver." You can say, "BFL is probably a scam," or, "BFL is unlikely to deliver." OP's text is acceptable.

[PuertoLibre]

Myths Wiki (BFL):

--I'll get it quick!

Truth: Pre-Ordering began in June of 2012. The original slated delivery date was scheduled and predicted for October 2012 As of April 2013 no one currently posses any BFL ASIC hardware.

--I'll get rich quick!

Truth: To date, no one has received their BFL ASIC hardware. The current rate of reward for the BitCoin system was halved in November/December of 2012. This means that your BitCoin reward has since been halved.

To date, only customers of competing products have been able to reap the rewards of ASIC implementations. BFL has long been delayed as the last competitor in the field without a working ASIC implementation.

--I don't mind the wait, it will eventually pay off anyway!

Truth: After the reward block was reduced by 50%, many BitCoin miners have found that the difficulty in producing blocks has only increased. This is due to the nature and intended design of BitCoins reward system. The more ASICs come online, the higher the difficulty climbs as people share the rewards and rising difficulty.

--How many people am I competing against to receive this reward?

Truth: It is currently estimated that BFL has several thousands customers in line waiting to receive their (as of yet) undelivered product. Estimates on delivery may be as long as several months through BFL.

The current difficulty of 6 million+ should yield at most about 4 to 6 BitCoins per day. In the near future, this amount is very likely to be reduced even further.

[PuertoLibre]

I suggest you build a eye catching text that [supposedly] leads people to a great deal for BFL hardware

Ads can't be deceptive like this.

Before anyone suggests it: For legal reasons and to avoid too much drama, you can't make assertions of fact that are potentially damaging and possibly false. For example, you can't say, "BFL is a scam," or, "BFL will never deliver." You can say, "BFL is probably a scam," or, "BFL is unlikely to deliver." OP's text is acceptable.

Thanks for the guidance!

[theymos]

BTW Theymos:  Could you look into who renamed mumu GalaxyASIC and why?  Something stinks.

I did. I almost always change names on request.

[notbrain]

https://i.imgur.com/EFlAWdk.png

<div style="background: #a90329;
background: -moz-linear-gradient(top,  #a90329 0%, #8f0222 33%, #6d0019 100%);
background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%,#a90329), color-stop(33%,#8f0222), color-stop(100%,#6d0019));
background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top,  #a90329 0%,#8f0222 33%,#6d0019 100%);
background: -o-linear-gradient(top,  #a90329 0%,#8f0222 33%,#6d0019 100%);
background: -ms-linear-gradient(top,  #a90329 0%,#8f0222 33%,#6d0019 100%);
background: linear-gradient(to bottom,  #a90329 0%,#8f0222 33%,#6d0019 100%);
filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr='#a90329', endColorstr='#6d0019',GradientType=0 );
color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; padding: 12px; font-weight: 300; text-align: center;
">ASIC COMPANIES ARE HUGE GAMBLE AT BEST, SCAMS AT WORST. NEW TO BTC? YOU MUST SEE THIS!</div>

[Entropy-uc]

<div style="background: #a90329;
background: -moz-linear-gradient(top,  #a90329 0%, #8f0222 33%, #6d0019 100%);
background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%,#a90329), color-stop(33%,#8f0222), color-stop(100%,#6d0019));
background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top,  #a90329 0%,#8f0222 33%,#6d0019 100%);
background: -o-linear-gradient(top,  #a90329 0%,#8f0222 33%,#6d0019 100%);
background: -ms-linear-gradient(top,  #a90329 0%,#8f0222 33%,#6d0019 100%);
background: linear-gradient(to bottom,  #a90329 0%,#8f0222 33%,#6d0019 100%);
filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr='#a90329', endColorstr='#6d0019',GradientType=0 );
color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; padding: 12px; font-weight: 300; text-align: center;
">ASIC COMPANIES ARE HUGE GAMBLE AT BEST, SCAMS AT WORST. NEW TO BTC? YOU MUST SEE THIS!</div>

Too generic.  ASICminer is paying dividends and doing what they said they would do.  Avalon has delivered to the tune of 1/2 of the total network hashrate.  Helveticacoin isn't asking for prepay and will be very interesting when they hit the market. 

BFL is the only company advertising what they can't demonstrate.

[notbrain]

Too generic.  ASICminer is paying dividends and doing what they said they would do.  Avalon has delivered to the tune of 1/2 of the total network hashrate.  Helveticacoin isn't asking for prepay and will be very interesting when they hit the market.  

BFL is the only company advertising what they can't demonstrate.

Then change the text to say BFL outright. They still own the rights to their name and could kill the ad or threaten legal action. I almost went with "3 LETTER ACRONYM ASIC COMPANY..."

Just please don't use that other horrific colored background gradient.

[gill83]

White background and red font will stand out.

Warning: Butterfly Labs are running an elaborate scam. Don't get sucked into it.

[Micon]

First draft:


HTML is below.  You can make your own by pasting the HTML here and modifying:
http://htmledit.squarefree.com/

I'm going to bed.  Somebody impress me with a great message and I will use it.  We have about 18 hours before I have to pay Theymos and send him the ad.

BTW Theymos:  Could you look into who renamed mumu GalaxyASIC and why?  Something stinks.



<tr><td class="middletext" style="background-color: rgb(229, 229, 232); padding: 1.5pt 5pt; text-align: center;">
<b>Advertisement: </b><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;               font-weight: bold;               font-size: 18px;               height: 45px;               line-height: 45px;               padding: 8px;               padding-left: 10px;               padding-right:      10px;                   margin-bottom:      20px;                        border:             1px solid #FF0000;                   border-radius:      10px;                        color:              #000000;                        border-color:       #000000;                   background-image:   linear-gradient(bottom, #FFFFFF 0%, #FFFFFF 100%);                   background-image:   -o-linear-gradient(bottom, #FFFFFF 0%, #FFFFFF 100%);                  background-image:   -moz-linear-gradient(bottom, #FFFFFF 0%, #8B101D 100%);                  background-image:   -ms-linear-gradient(bottom, #FFFFFF 0%, #FFFFFFF 100%);                       background-image:   -webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, #FFFFFF 0%, #8B101D 100%);                  background-image:   -webkit-gradient(linear, left bottom, left top, color-stop(0, #8B101D), color-stop(1, #FEFACC));                   ">               <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=159104.0"                   style="color:#333333;                        text-shadow: 0px 1px 0px #999999, 0px -1px 0px #dcdcdc;                        text-decoration: none               ">               

Warning: BFL has failed to deliver for >7 months. New orders could lose money!   
         </a>      </span></td></tr><tr><td class="middletext" style="background-color: rgb(229, 229, 232); padding: 1.5pt 5pt; text-align: center;">

you got it. 

I offer up JoshZerlan.com for any needs in this purpose. 

Also this would only need a bit of cleanup to work fine:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=136392.0

[mobodick]

Hi.
I think you should make the background or the font lighter.
The black on dark red is kindof hard to read and doesn't catch attention easily.
 

[mobodick]

 

How is that?

I have started bidding on next weeks ads.  Josh will have to outbid on all 7 slots to bump it off.  So every bit cent you send to the address in my sig will cost him at least 6 bitcents.  (assuming those bitcents in the address add up to 0.25). 

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=159328.0

Very nice indeed!
Bitcents sent!

[Red_Evil]

Warning: BFL has failed to deliver for> 7 months. It Could be a scam!
And Done

[Xian01]

Nevermind about anti-BFL PSA's.

I have half a mind to investigate the pros/cons of a class action lawsuit against them at the moment.

Starting to get really pissed off. Have never seen a company I have given so much money to, act so unprofessionally before.

[Red_Evil]

Nevermind about anti-BFL PSA's.

I have half a mind to investigate the pros/cons of a class action lawsuit against them at the moment.

Starting to get really pissed off. Have never seen a company I have given so much money to, act so unprofessionally before.

Edit your Signature and Warn other People

[creativex]

<subscribed and donated>

Great work guys!