So Easy a Kid Could Do It: The Next Infomercial Cliché?

Here’s a claim that may become a trend in get-rich-quick infomercials: “It’s so easy even a kid could do it!”

I first noticed this claim on the infomercial for WizeTrade stock trading software. The infomercial features a 12-year-old boy named Christian Powers who made 355% using Wizetrade, including $700 on a single trade. Click here to see part of a newspaper ad for Wizetrade that features Christian Powers with the headline “A Child’s Secret to Winning on Wall Street.” (You can go to this issue of Metro Vancouver to see the full ad on page 4.) Frankly, I’m not sure touting that “even a kid could do it” is a very good tactic when selling software, since many parents actually feel intimidated by their children’s superior computer prowess.

The other infomercial featuring a kid getting rich is the ad for the Robert Allen Institute real estate workshop. This infomercial features a kid named JJ Bright who made $36,000 on his first real estate deal. They even feature the video of this kid’s testimonial on the Official Robert Allen Institute website. But just in case you think a young boy making that kind of money will turn into a rapacious little Donald Trump, they also tout JJ for using his real estate wealth to buy bicycles for underprivileged children. (You can learn more at JJ Bright’s website, including Robert Allen’s help in fundraising.)

So if you take your kid to this seminar and he ends up blowing all his real estate riches on cocaine and hookers, don’t blame Bob Allen!