How could they double diamond sales?

[@safaiaryu12]

Tom joking, getting it right, and being absolutely stunned was pretty hilarious. What a bizarre marketing ploy. I'm too poor for that shit. 😂

[@hockeybuzz555]

That is exactly how Big Shoe scams people. "Oh! Just one shoe? Perhaps another shoe, for yourself." And next thing you know your walking out of the shoe store with two shoes instead of one.

[@markwright3161]

But then your hands are lonely, buy a pair for them as well :)

[@DrZaius3141]

Big Shoe is such a clown show...

[@literallyjustgrass]

@@markwright3161this is funny to me because the dutch translation of 'gloves' literally translates to 'hand shoes'

[@ava_lavender]

I was convinced it was engagement ring + wedding ring.

[@SharienGaming]

i thought the exact same thing... what they actually went for is even more inane

[@CafePorLaNoche]

Same here.

[@opalzvezda]

Same here, or vow renewals!

[@orwellboy1958]

I went for child berth.

[@xipalips]

Definitely thought vow renewals

[@movingforwardLDTH]

I remember the add as targeting *single* women to buy themselves diamond rings - along the lines of “buy yourself the gorgeous ring now, just because. You don’t have to wait for some guy to propose in order to get the ring of your dreams!” ETA: *ad, not add 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

[@PianoKwanMan]

That makes way more sense than this video. It sounded like you bought two sets of rings for the wedding, and they were presented at the same time

[@ghstgirl4982]

How did you get that from the video lmao. They literally say it was advertised as "get one for yourself," so what in that implies you get it at marriage@@PianoKwanMan

[@n2n8sda]

Only recently discovered Tom Scotts Lateral but it's fast becoming a must watch!

[@ajs41]

Me too, although to be fair this was one of the weaker ones.

[@ZT1ST]

Before the idea of "Get one for yourself" was revealed, I was thinking it was "Buy one for the engagement, and then one for the wedding itself.". I'm guessing they already did that before though.

[@sidkemp4672]

I come from an older generation. In my day, diamonds were for engagement rings. Wedding rings were plain gold bands.

[@panda4247]

I am not even that old and I support that concept.

[@RFC3514]

They still are, mostly.

[@PianoKwanMan]

As has been mentioned on a decade old video on SixtySymbols, I would love to have a pair of [weak] magnetic rings. So, when you hold hands, they would stick together with a tiny force of attraction

[@plwadodveeefdv]

​@@PianoKwanManwhenever you're both holding each other's left hand...

[@ulture]

Is that not how it works now?

[@winkletter]

I thought it was going to be, instead of two month's salary, spend four month's salary and start your marriage off on an even rockier financial footing. I wonder how many divorces the wedding industry helps create each year? If you think about it, it's in their best interest to destroy marriages as soon as possible.

[@korganrocks3995]

On the other hand, if you propose to someone and they raise a stink about the price of the ring, you just saved yourself the cost of both ring, wedding and divorce! 😄

[@economicprisoner]

I think they are unironically trying to push that up to 4 months salary. If you can liquidate it: 3 months of emergency money does make sense. suspect plain gold is more fungible though.

[@SpaceSoups]

@@korganrocks3995 no matter which hand, it's got a ring.

[@korganrocks3995]

@@SpaceSoups Nice one! 😄

[@firstcynic92]

4:45. Wedding rings have existed for thousands of years. They represent part of the dowry paid by the bride's family. Wedding rings for men started around WW1. As said in the video, diamond wedding rings were a marketing ploy.

[@Stormynormy42]

I remember seeing ads that would have come from this as a teen and thinking how dumb they were lol I'd argue they succeeded to an extent with what they've pushed in more recent years. You get her the engagement ring ($), then it's time to pick out wedding bands and they push for you to get an ornamented ring and band set ($$) which then leads to pressuring the groom into getting a more ornamental band for himself to match ($$). The new ring and band for her generally each have multiple diamonds and other gemstones, so DeBoers wins lol

[@gasparsigma]

I'm glad a lot of younger folks couldn't care less for diamond rings

[@steeljawX]

I mean, you could spin their marketing theory however you want and odds are is at some point, it's true. I choose to believe that some De Beers high exec was getting their stuff at Walmart, decided to get a candy bar and pack of gum, and came up with the idea that diamond rings should also be an impulse buy option. Like he or she some how got outraged by the price of Red Bull in those fridges next to the checkout counters and decided their stuff can do better. "Hey, while I'm ringing you up for your wedding rings , how about browsing these other diamond rings that cost anywhere from a third of the ring you're buying to 5 times as much? I mean, you'll never know when you need one and it's okay to have a cheat ....um....uh, ring. I mean an indulgence of your own."

[@KernelLeak]

First, there was this amazing offer: "Buy one, get one!" Now, they've gone even further: "Buy two, get two!" Win-win?

[@denniswood6791]

years ago, there was a print ad with the couple dressed in underwear, she sitting on his lap. He wearing two watches. My buddies were oggling over this till I noted that he was not serious about her as he was bi-coastal.

[@gdp3rd]

My immediate guess was trying to push diamond rings for men. Pinkie rings.

[@v2joecr]

There are some countries where they wear the wedding ring on the right hand instead of the left hand & I was thinking of people that go to one of those countries as well as a country where the wedding ring is on the right hand.

[@michaelocyoung]

Saw a video with Double Diamond in the title and thought it may be about old beer.

[@sirgarberto]

funny thing is, my first thought was the answer. But I didn't expect it to actually be.

[@ChristopherKlepel]

I thought I had this one twice First, I thought it was the the advertisement "an engagement ring should cost two months salary" I thought that might be what made engagement rings Take off. Then I thought, it must be a campaign to make the wedding band also contain a diamond.

[@Alsadius]

I was expecting it to be man-gagement rings, but that makes a De Beers-y sort of sense too.

[@brontewcat]

Yes that is what my boyfriend and I thought.

[@andrewrobertson1473]

Honestly "because you can" is one of the better reasons you could buy a diamond ring. Because a corporation told you that you should "because you can" is one of the worst.

[@korganrocks3995]

I haven't even worn a watch since I got my first cellphone, I can't imagine wearing one ring, let alone two!

[@AMTunLimited]

Is Tom Lum calling in using a CCTV camera? For some reason it's got that composite video look

[@aficklefangirl2566]

I was so sure it was going to be those purity rings that every single teen celebrity seemed to be wearing in the early 2000s!

[@BigBoyMemeZone]

i was half expecting renewal/recommitment ceremonies. it seems like a very early-2000s thing.

[@Galb39]

I heard "up to 100%" and realised that every ring should get a second ring. My first thought was "2 diamond rings" which I immediately dismissed because It's stupid. Diamond rings for men sounds much more plausible, right?

[@DrZaius3141]

Objection! "Up to 100%" is misleading, because theoretically, the campaign would not only target married women to get a second ring, it would also tap a new market of all the single ladies (TM) to get one. Thus, the increase could theoretically have been far beyond 100%!

[@lucbloom]

I constantly used my left hand for “me time”, but that stopped when I got married.

[@route2070]

From the beginning, I'm thinking promise rings based onwhat I am thinking culturally in that period.

[@ajnormandgroome]

I was thinking it was brown (and other color) diamonds. But 2003 was key - don't wait for marriage

[@edgarleft]

My thought was rings for Gay marriage, because that started in the Netherlands in 2003.

[@PsyKosh]

Diamonds aren't even all that nice to my taste. I mean, compared to a nice opal or whatever, diamonds always seemed aesthetically... boring... to me. A little sparkly, but meh.

[@Kumimono]

I'm amused by "The Queen wears a diamond". She literally wore the largest diamond in the world, iirc. The, Cullinan. I'm thinking, they doubled the "X months of salary for a wedding ring"-scam.

[@VonOzbourne]

I figured that this was going to be the beginning of the push for a "bigger anniversary ring because you love her more than on your wedding day" but I guess that is just a more recent thing after this stupid ploy didn't pan out as hoped.

[@nathangamble125]

My first guess was diamond engagement rings.

[@markedis5902]

Why are diamonds so expensive? Because De Beers said so!

[@BraveLittlePixel]

I might start commenting my guesses before the guests start their guesses, as most the time I'm right, but I'm more than willing to be wrong on this one. My guess is they promoted the idea of diamond engagement rings for straight men, or gay couples, as well as women, as men typically get a plain or no ring.

[@BraveLittlePixel]

I concede defeat

[@WyvernYT]

I think diamond wedding rings for men would be a good marketing program.

[@jamiesage7208]

my guess without reading you other comments: promoting the giving of diamond engagement rings, this could increase sales of diamond rings by up to 100%

[@alphazero924]

Engagement rings are already the diamond. It's supposed to be some BS about "look how much money I spent on my future bride" while the wedding ring itself is supposed to be gold

[@JeskaDax]

A much better marketing for diamond rings would be to get one for the right hand that has one diamond on it for each child you have.

[@space.tel-e-grams]

I was thinking it was anniversary rings since they do advertise that

[@ajs41]

I think it's fair to say this wasn't the most interesting ones, although that's because most of the others are very interesting by comparison.

[@alexhannah8889]

I was thinking purity rings.

[@willdrug]

I thought that it's for travel; Over here you wear them on the right hand

[@whophd]

Engagement ring?

[@korganrocks3995]

That was my guess too.

[@tobysuren]

I was pretty certain this was going to be about those 2 part rings that connect with each other. That's somewhat dumb, but certainly not as dumb as the actual answer.

[@SylviaRustyFae]

Fun fact! The Asexual/Aromantic community have prty much done the same thing with rings, but not diamond lol The left hand means me; so a ring on the left hand can indicate ace/aro ppl. Usually its a black ring on the middle finger, but any finger cud work

[@safaiaryu12]

Isn't it the right hand for "me"? Wedding rings go on the left hand. At least, I've been wearing a black ring on the middle finger of my right hand for like seven years, lol. I've occasionally found other ace people through this, too!

[@kevinschultz6091]

Tom: "Or you could have a ring on the other hand for...." Me: "...punching people?" Tom: "Just for yourself!" Me: "No, the answer is punching people."

[@markwright3161]

That's a ring per finger :)

[@ferretyluv]

I was expecting it to be when they started pushing “chocolate diamonds.”

[@Dazllingston]

This is quite weird, because in some cultures a ring on the left hand means that your loved died and you are a widow or a widower

[@techobservations8238]

Got me Tom ..... i though it was the 10yr Anniversary ring

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

I am actually surprised they didn't invend a sidechick ring yet.

[@witerabid]

Did they also start another campaign in 2016 to buy a second diamond ring just so it looks right in a selfie?

[@panda4247]

Why are inverted selfies even a thing? I always viewed them as a bug and it should have been fixed long ago

[@markblacket8900]

3:54 this would imply that the ring company expects 100% marriages to end in divorce

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Initial thoughts: buy two for the price of one and pay less taxes? Then they have the second ring to sell back

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

What rubbish that is! "To prove to others I'm good enough for myself, I must pay those ***** large amounts for something useless." Talk about vanity...

[@kdmq]

"Rings for divorces" + "Increase diamond sales by up to 100%" = up to 100% of marriages fail lol

[@KenLieck]

Such an obnoxious idea that the slogan *should* be: "Your left hand says 'We.' Your right hand says 'Ew!'"

[@cybergeek11235]

instant reaction: "a 50% off sale!"

[@RecklessFables]

People so young thinking diamond engagement rings are "recent".

[@dogememer2010]

Marketing was cooking with that one

[@adriansrealm]

Tom lum, diamonds are a terrible investment. They are literally worthless.

[@Archgeek0]

Flammable, too! *And* they slowly convert to graphite over time on their own. Whatever malformed beast came up with "Diamonds Are Forever" should be slapped in the teeth with a false advertising suit.

[@adriansrealm]

@@Archgeek0 "A diamond is forever, because if you never try to sell it you'll never find out how badly you got boned" - Adam ruins engagement rings

[@GrandHighGamer]

The title immediately makes me think diamong engagement rings (or maybe an attempt to make men wear them too)

[@VojtěchJavora]

But isn't it the engagement ring that has a diamond anyway? Aren't wedding rings just gold?

[@JasperJanssen]

4 months wage instead of 2?

[@Perfectkid197]

diamonds aren't running out though

[@Yupppi]

It would be funny if the answer was "they campaigned for men to have a diamond in wedding rings as well" but I doubt all their diamond ring sales are wedding rings to begin with. Because I feel up to 100% part was important. Can someone explain the concept of patriarchy to me, I'm no up to date anymore. If a man participates in a ritual where they promise they won't leave their significant other (assumedly woman) ever in a pinch, especially when they get pregnant, is that patriarchy?

[@JohnDoe-tx8lq]

"Can't find a man? Still Single? No prospect of Marriage? 💔Why not just buy a💍for yourself!!" Yer, that would definitely be an interesting selling point.... 😆 "And why not send yourself some flowers 💐(we have a 30% off promotion), buy a white dress 👰(25% off promotion on some items), and go on a romantic holiday 🏖with our special 'Honeymoon For One' 12% promotion' (only in October & December)?" Love it, here's my credit card! 🤑 ... "Because you're worth it." 💎

[@dragonboyjgh]

Here I thought it was gonna be a ring per spouse, the increase in sales was polygamists.

[@brontewcat]

My partner and I thought was a promotion of an engagement ring for the male partner.

[@colmwhateveryoulike3240]

Synthetic diamonds?

[@kazikian]

Instead of a diamond, get your fiancée her birthstone. Or the birthstone corresponding to when you met.

[@teamcyeborg]

I was thinking it was for your second wife

[@allanrichardson1468]

Gay weddings must have had an effect also.

[@mojosbigsticks]

Damn they're sneaky.

[@lawrencejob]

Something Emily in Paris would come up with

[@ronchappel4812]

Oh come on.No one made a mistress joke?

[@rianantony]

I thought for sure it was gonna be same sex marriage. But I guess that wouldn't be by 100%

[@normano4484]

'PromoSM' 😭

[@olivier2553]

From what I have read, diamonds was historically believed to protect from plagues lake cholera, etc. So you offered a diamond ring to your fiance to protect her. Diamond rings are an ancient thing.

[@X2Brute]

imma guess polygamy

[@BlandBloke]

I like how they started questioning the marketing team saying bs to sell their far too expensive products. It's like they've never heard of Apple before.

[@lilDaveist]

Really? Apple bashing? That’s so 2010..

[@whophd]

As an Apple fan of the 1980s and 1990s, I kinda think you’ve minimised all the product differentiation - I’m talking features not marketing

[@notthere83]

Patriarchy... Yeah, because it's famously men who are ALL about those diamond rings...

[@cooledcannon]

These people are too hipster for me =/

[@joeimjoe]

The more Lateral clips I watch the more guests I never want to see again.