I just saw an interesting commercial for a Clorox product. Apparently we are so overcome with germs that we need a handy wipe that disinfects with one quick swipe. I've seen the commercials for this before, and I've scoffed at this product. I'm just curious how dirty people feel their homes are that this product sells.
The point of this particular rant isn't how corporations scare us into buying products we don't need. Hell, advertising is all about finding a way to convince people they need your product, so it's to be expected that they will attack from whichever directions makes the most sense based on what they are trying to foist on us.
In some cases, a new product is better for some reason. I hate dusting, but my newish duster on a stick works a lot better than the old tech for dusting, basically a bird's ass on a stick. This is a product that doesn't need too much pushing. But a wipe that basically makes things slightly cleaner might be a tougher sell.
But, if in the commercial for the sanitizing wipe we show kids, you know, dirty, filthy, germ laden kids, and if we show this kids wiping their noses and licking their fingers and sneezing indiscriminately, then we can show the wild and crazy germ transmission that is the natural byproduct of a child's existence. And if we set all this in a back-to-school setting, then you know these things will sell. And here's the capper, we can suggest in the commercial that good parents will buy this product and donate it to their child's school. Yeah, that'll push our sales and please the board. Sweet!
Yes, they do indeed suggest that we purchase their product and donate them to our schools. Of course, we trust this product, so we are certainly buying some for our own home. We are filthy people that live surrounded by germs. Thank Clorox there is some large corporation taking our made up by them concerns seriously.
Oh yeah, it's products like this that are responsible for the oncoming super bug that takes out half the population setting us all up for the final showdown between good and evil. Stephen King totally predicted this. Seriously.
6 comments:
Okay, I see your point, but...
Have you ever had a kid in public school? I did, and let me tell you those kids were sick ALL.THE.TIME.
One of the great benefits of homeschooling is that Thomas isn't sick very often. In PS, he missed a week at a time many times a year.
They didn't do anything for germ control, and they really needed it.
So if I were a public school mom, I'd buy a case -- and hope they used them.
I don't use them in my home, though. I buy baby wipes for quick bathroom cleanups. I try to buy soaps that are not antibacterial -- but they're getting harder and harder to find.
My high school AP bio teacher taught me that antibiotic resistance was going to be the biggest problem of this century. And from my mom telling me of the antibiotic resistant TB and knowing a friend with MRSA, I believe it. Scary stuff.
I pretty much accept that bacteria win, they have the largest biomass of any living thing on earth. We must live in peace with them, lol. Sucks its so hard to find non-antibacterial cleansers nowadays.
The Clorox wipes are on the school supply list every year (by brand name). Actually, every supply has a 'suggestion' beside it such as "crayola works well." I swear they are getting some sort of kick back for this. Can't blame them though, the state sure isn't giving them enough funds.
I use the Lysol wipes in the bathroom. I used to use Lysol sprayed on a paper towel to wipe the faucets and toilet rim/seat. I'm a lazy maid, so I like the convenience of the wipes. I do it a couple of times a week because I'm a little squeamish about other people's piss and pissy hands.
I will add, however, that Lysol is my only concession to "cleaning products." For almost everything else I use vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice and sometimes ammonia. I still clean the way my grandma and mom did. Even they used Lysol in the bathroom. I have to say, I really love that that stuff.
One thing that boggles me is all that Swiffer crap, though. I bought a big-ass pack of Jcloths a long time ago and I use those for the dusting -- cheap, efficient and versatile. Mops still work great and since when is rinsing a mop such a time-consuming, back-breaking, mess-inducing chore?
I did buy a Clorox mop actually. I'm used to the mops used in restaurants, big sturdy mops and a bucket on wheels with a built in ringer. We couldn't find anything for the home that even closely opproximated that. The damn new tech fancy Clorox thing seems to work but for the amount of filth I'll walk on before breaking out the mop.
While it is true that corporations invent problems for their products to fix, ie, Listerine pretty much invented Halitosis, or at least made us all feel that we had bad breath. Adaptability is a universal rule of nature and no matter what we invent, some virus, or bacteria will become immune to it. This doesn't mean that we should just give up. My life has been vastly improved by the mainstreaming of Hand Sanitizer. In the 3 years I have been using this stuff, I have had only one cold that effectively lasted 2 days. I understand that our bodies are unindated with chemisty and thus the need to detox, but I would resist any movement to discard modern cleaning chems. On the other hand, it has been shown that anti-bacterial soap has little to no effect on germs.
JMHO...now go wash your hands befor you eat.....lol
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