Home Depot ad in EC Magazine

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electricalperson

Senior Member
Location
massachusetts
It's obvious that whoever put together the box for the HD add does not know what they are doing.

I would put money down that the wires in the wire nuts aren't even stripped.

i think they just slapped it together. im sure they didnt call the local handyman down the road to make that box for the add. the guy who built it was probably some prop guy. but i do agree they need to scan there adds for stuff like that since they put it in an electrical contractor magazine
 

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
I find it really hilarious that you all are getting bent out of shape on this ad. It is an ad. If they filled the box with wires you wouldn't be able to read the Home Depot sign in the back. I am sure it is a demo with 2 short pieces of pipe and the wire hanging out of both ends. There is no screw holding the box either but it is an ad-- so what.
 

wbalsam1

Senior Member
Location
Upper Jay, NY
I find it really hilarious that you all are getting bent out of shape on this ad. It is an ad. If they filled the box with wires you wouldn't be able to read the Home Depot sign in the back. I am sure it is a demo with 2 short pieces of pipe and the wire hanging out of both ends. There is no screw holding the box either but it is an ad-- so what.

I think there's a general tendency to expect a higher degree of professionalism from a huge corporation that holds itself out as being knowledgeable about the electrical industry and it's somewhat bothersome or disheartening to realize that the corporate signature is blemished by an advertisement that is strikingly non code-compliant. :)
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
I think there's a general tendency to expect a higher degree of professionalism from a huge corporation that holds itself out as being knowledgeable about the electrical industry and it's somewhat bothersome or disheartening to realize that the corporate signature is blemished by an advertisement that is strikingly non code-compliant. :)


I would like to apply that same standard to all forms of media but that shipped sailed along time ago.

Ads have nothing to do with truth, only sales.
 

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
I think I'll call them and offer my services for an upgrage. :D
That's not too far fetched. I have a friend that is a technical reviewer for a trade magazine that serves the ice cream industry. He just more or less opens PDF's and provides comments for a few hundred extra bucks a month. You could offer to be a technical reviewer for HD's electrical contractor ads.
 

GUNNING

Senior Member
When you advertise you are putting out their your reputation. Your knowledge base. Your image to be viewed by all those who are making value judgements. That's why spell check is soooo important. That's why copy is soooo important. That's why this is such a big deal. They are holding themselves out to be an expert. A purveyor of the electrical industry. Its image, its brand, its name recognition. Its a lot of dollars spent on a really really bad ad that they have no idea how bad it is. At first I thought it was a 4 square extension with a Home Depot sticker on the back. (Not really surprising given the handyman mentality I have run across.) But this add is put out and reviewed by experts in the electrical field and must have been overruled by Madison avenue hacks. The message: Name recognition is more important then being correct. This is how we know its being done. This is what we are telling you is OK. This is our position as a leader in the industry of home supply. We are right because EC&M put their BRAND on it. This is a mistake.


(For all you legal eagles out there, This is sarcasm. Yea right.)

The Siemens panel .. no AFCI's no circuit labels.

Has anyone gotten the new (12.08) Electric Contractor? Its on counterfeit electrical products. I'm afraid to buy anything, from anyone!
 
It is so common to observe multiple code violations in various electrical wiring method displays at the big box stores. Very rarely do I see a correct wiring display at these type stores or at the lumber yard sales stores, either.
It isn't hard to guess that the overall intent is to create the impression that there's very little skill actually needed to "do-it-yourself and save money" and this advertising pitch has served well in fostering such a notion.

And they just got more free advertising from us.

...Just who do you think writes the big checks for Klien,Lutron and Hubbel, is it Home Depot or your local supply house chain? Home Depot is the big boy on the block for total sales. They have thousands of stores and the supply houses can't come close to matching that. The supply house sells Klien tools to professional and Home Depot sells to everyone else, which do you think is the bigger market?...

I would have to agree with this. The last time I tried to return a klien tool to my supply house, they looked at me like I was crazy. Said I'd get a new one when the replacement came in...
20 minutes later, I walk into big orange, and I go to the returns counter, they tell me to get a new one, and don't even ask if I bought it there...
 

macmikeman

Senior Member
Did you notice the violations in the Siemens ad on page 17i?

sad.jpg

I would say that having a hard hat on while in a kids bedroom to flip a circuit breaker is a violation of any common sense... I would say that, but I know I will get blasted by all the Dudley Do Rights for saying it.:cool:
 

MadeInUSA2007

Member
Location
San Jose, CA
Homer D Poe's poor use of a ladder

Homer D Poe's poor use of a ladder

Did you ever notice that Homer D Poe, Home Depot's character in the ads actually stands on the top rung of ladders? And you know that every manufacturer states that it is unsafe to use that area. Way to go to set a good example for the rest of us.
Food for thought: On a two foot ladder, aren't you only supposed to use the bottom rung, which is about 6" from the floor? What's up with that? I feel like Jerry Seinfeld.
 

Karl H

Senior Member
Location
San Diego,CA
I find it really hilarious that you all are getting bent out of shape on this ad. It is an ad. If they filled the box with wires you wouldn't be able to read the Home Depot sign in the back. I am sure it is a demo with 2 short pieces of pipe and the wire hanging out of both ends. There is no screw holding the box either but it is an ad-- so what.

Don't you have anything better to do than laugh at people that

don't have anything better to do?:D
 

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
active1 said:
While they had a EG in the pipe and spliced in the box, the EG is not bonded to the box.
Does it have to be ? If we're making assumptions about this photo wouldn't the continuous conduit run serve as the equipment ground ? What if this were a circuit requiring an isolated ground ?
 

bjp_ne_elec

Senior Member
Location
Southern NH
And they just got more free advertising from us.



I would have to agree with this. The last time I tried to return a klien tool to my supply house, they looked at me like I was crazy. Said I'd get a new one when the replacement came in...
20 minutes later, I walk into big orange, and I go to the returns counter, they tell me to get a new one, and don't even ask if I bought it there...

Greg - curious - what was the issue with the Kleins you brought back?
 

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
There was a time when Klien would take back tools that were used but now they instruct supply house personnel to examine the tool and make a determination as to whether "they've lived their useful life" or not. Chances are that Big Orange hasn't gotten that word yet. I tried to take back a pair of Klien lineman's pliers that never really broke in and were hard to open. I was told that because there were nicks and dings in the nose of the pliers from banging in staples that Klien wouldn't issue a new pair. So I said "isn't that what they're used for" ?:confused::grin:

Anyway, the only company that still exchanges new tools for old ones is Craftsman, as far as I know.
 

Minuteman

Senior Member
There was a time when Klien would take back tools that were used but now they instruct supply house personnel to examine the tool and make a determination as to whether "they've lived their useful life" or not. Chances are that Big Orange hasn't gotten that word yet. I tried to take back a pair of Klien lineman's pliers that never really broke in and were hard to open. I was told that because there were nicks and dings in the nose of the pliers from banging in staples that Klien wouldn't issue a new pair. So I said "isn't that what they're used for" ?:confused::grin:

Anyway, the only company that still exchanges new tools for old ones is Craftsman, as far as I know.

I had a broken tip on a Klien flat blade screwdriver. It was obvious from the frayed edge of the metal, that it failed while twisting in a counterclockwise direction. I took the tool back to the supply house where I purchased it. The counter guy looked at it and said that it would take a couple weeks, but that it looked to him like it failed being abused.

Later, I took the same screwdriver to HD and asked for a replacement. She said that they would honor it, only if I had a receipt. Yet later, I took it to Sears, and they gave me a new screwdriver. :)
 
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