"Pimsleur Approach" a snub to Ukrainians?

I was absolutely awestruck by the irony I encountered in an excellent e-letter I subscribe to, called Early to Rise.

The very first article, The Secret of Incremental Degradation, asks: "Is your zeal for a good deal sacrificing quality?" Essentially, it illustrates how businesses that indulge in short-sighted short shrifting are being "penny-wise but pound-foolish."

... The theory goes that you can eventually ruin your business by making many very small downgrades in the quality of the product or service you offer. ... For a business to grow, it must be profitable. And if you want your business to be profitable, you have to spend less than you make. But that doesn’t mean you should cheapen your product or customer service. ... As a businessperson interested in growing a profitable, entrepreneurial business in the Internet age, you should make it your job to increase - not decrease - the value you give to your customers. ...

Very illuminating article, I thought. Great business advice.

Then the next item was this advertisement: Rapidly “Absorb” Any Language in 10 Days… Using the Revolutionary Method Employed by the FBI and CIA!"

Well, being a perpetual (and perpetually struggling) student of the Ukrainian language - and someone who is very fond of shortcuts, guess what I did next...

Lo and behold, up came the Pimsleur Approach website. Oh good, I thought. Some time ago I had looked into this program and noticed that they had cassettes but not CDs for Ukrainian language instruction. I called their customer service to double-check and was told that they didn't have Ukrainian in CDs "yet" but perhaps in the future...

So, this ad reminded me to check back and see if they finally had CDs.

Well, it appears that is now all they have. But in the process of getting rid of their cassette offerings, they also got rid of Ukrainian as a language in their product offerings.

The irony would be comical if it weren't so disappointing. Not to mention insulting.

But it's also puzzling. The cost of producing CDs is miniscule, and turning analog sound files into digital is relatively easy and inexpensive. So why on earth offer fewer languages than before - and risk creating this kind of bad business karma?

All I can say is that if the decision-makers at Pimsleur subscribe to this newsletter, the advice dispensed therein obviously is lost on them. So much for their business acumen...