Blind credibility

Maybe is should be called perceived credibility. I just watched a TV commercial on The Perfect Pushup. It is basically two handles you grab on to while doing pushups. They let your arms move in their natural motion while you use them. During the ad spot, out of no where they say "Invented by a Navy SEAL". Sadly this statement will make them sell more product. People will/do perceive a Navy Seal as credible. However, are they really an expert on pushups? Who was this SEAL? What makes him a professional we should trust to make a perfect push up device.

This goes along with a customer encounter I personally hate. Too often a customer comes to the shop and eventually they decide to disagree with the shop employee and opt to say, "well, my friend says I need this". WTF? Who is your friend, and are you aware that chances are he comes into here to get his stuff worked on? But since he/she is a friend, they automatically blindly give them credibility.

For me, it comes down to this: WWBD (what would bob do)