What Pisses Me Off: Lies in advertising

I often find myself yelling at the TV these days. I used to yell at it during the news – which was never news anyway. I read newspapers and try to find out facts with the internet because TV programmers often don’t really want to give us the real news and put their own slant on events so that we are influenced a certain way. Then they like to finish up with a cute story – just in case we have been gobsmacked by the latest “man’s inhumanity to man” feature. Then there is sport (which can take up more time than the actual ‘news’) and we round out with the weather – blissfully non-confronting.

I thought I had solved my yelling problem by simply not watching TV news. But now I’m yelling when the ads come on: Oh crap, what a load of rubbish, oh yes, here’s another bloody pill to take, oh kids should take pills – well of course they should. And here’s the latest cleaning product that kills 99.9% of germs – rubbish. Of course I should mute the ads. Most of the ads are aimed at women, and if you ever mistakenly tune in to morning TV you will soon see that every woman is supposed to be the cleanest, whiter than white, germ free, sweet smelling, glossy haired, perky bummed, toothy, blonde confection, who makes my teeth itch.

Most of the ads are for chemical, pharmaceutical products. It’s no surprise to learn that the pharmaceutical business is a 36 billion dollar one, thanks to all the people who go straight out and buy the product, because of all the claims made…which start me yelling again, “rubbish!”. Research? What research? “Use this shampoo because it penetrates …” and then we see what purports to be a laboratory – it’s not. Health food products are now promoted as often as pharmaceuticals, and any health store will have bottles of pills and potions from floor to ceiling and wall to wall.

I used to work in advertising when I was very young, and I left because I realised every claim was a lie – and that was just about toothpaste! I should have stayed and become rich on the lies, like my girlfriend who was responsible for “A Mars a day helps you work, sleep and play”. Whaaat? “That’s some chocolate bar, what the hell is in it?”. She just laughed, “Oh Jan, it’s just an ad”. They can even sell Prime Ministers!

What do you think? Has advertising gone too far to promote rubbish? What ads annoy you most? Tell us in the comments.