On Mon, 7 Jun 2004, Edward J. Muenster wrote:

That's part of why it's fun: Wind 'em up and watch 'em spin. Listen to 'em
quote L. Ron Amatuzio's company's propaganda as gospel truth...and then
laugh at 'em. See 'em spew forth drivel that once -- way back in the
beforetimes -- contained a tiny fraction of a kernel of
tribologically-sound information, but which has become an elaborate and
delicately-balanced load of horseapples, in the manner of all myths.

No, no, remember, API certification is proof of a low-quality "commodity
oil". API certification is *bad*, because it means getting in bed with the
big, bad petroleum and automaking industries, who don't want your vehicle
to last, so they collude -- assisted by the big, bad Federal Government --
to promulgate engine oil standards that actually harm your engine. See,
and once you know that Amsoil sent its one and only son to die for your
engine, then you can clearly see that API certification isn't just bad,
it's...evil. In fact, if you peel the label off a bottle of API-certified
engine oil, hold it up to the noonday sun and read it in reverse, you can
see the devil laughing and read that Paul McCartney is dead.

That, too.

I'm certain this phenomenon has an actual name in the field of psychology;
I call it the "Slick-50 Effect". Of course the Slick-50 makes my engine
run smoother and cooler and get 4 more miles per gallon; it cost me $40!
Marketers aren't stupid, and they know how to exploit this. Witness the
ultra-high price of Scamsoil or PIAA headlight bulbs, for instance,
completely out of proportion with the actual performance and quality of
the product -- and yet, people willingly pay more money for an inferior
product, because the higher price makes them *feel* as though they've
bought something superior. Marketing courses are _full_ of additional
examples of products languishing on store shelves until the price is
*raised*.

What most people forget is that this year's oil of any major brand is
considerably better than last year's oil, way better than the oil of 5
years ago and *light years* better than the oil of a decade ago. Your
method works fine.

-Stern