Harry Wallop Reveals Secrets of the High Street

Channel 4 has commissioned a new series presented by Harry Wallop in which a crack team of salespeople take to the high street to show the secret tricks, marketing techniques and scams both legal and illegal carried out daily in shops and restaurants across Britain.

Hidden cameras will catch them in the act as they practice the dark arts of upselling, flattery and manipulation in a variety of locations from clothes shops to beauticians to electrical stores, restaurants and supermarkets. All of their scams and fiddles are based on real life practices and verified by Trading Standards investigations, confessional interviews and psychologists who have studied consumer behaviour and the secret art of selling in minute detail.

Between stings Harry reveals more secrets to help us become savvier shoppers,  ranging from, how to tell the difference between true vintage and charity shop fakes, whether expensive top of the range electrical cables are any better than their bargain counterparts, and why you should beware of the dish of the day in most restaurants.  

The 4 x 60 series has been commissioned by Features Commissioning Editor Nick Hornby. The production company is Betty and it will be executive produced by David Emerson.

Nick Hornby said: “In today’s times we all want to know how to avoid being duped and learn how to spot a bargain – mixing comedy and hard factual content Secrets of the High Street aims to marry Harry’s cast iron journalism with the people watching pleasures of candid camera.”

David Emerson said:  “This is a fun consumer show with a serious edge. Using a combination of brilliant sellers and the latest in covert camera technology it plays out the worst high street scams on unsuspecting shoppers.  By showing the consumer how easy it is to be duped the aim is to equip everyone with the knowledge they need to become smarter shoppers.”