Why is it even necessary to advertise bathroom tissue? This household product is as essential to life as air. All of us buy it and will continue to buy it until we become incapable of making decisions for ourselves. At that point, other people will buy it for us. Its sales will never hit bottom.
Most shoppers select at random whatever brand of bathroom tissue is displayed at eye level on the store shelf. A few careful consumers determine the number of sheets per roll of tissue and the number of rolls per package and divide those numbers into the total cost of the product and choose the cheapest one. No one, absolutely no one, chooses bathroom tissue in order to “enjoy the go,” or “to go commando,” or to experience the “ideal balance of softness and strength.”
Manufacturers of bathroom tissue who pay big bucks to promote their product are flushing good money down the toilet. People will buy their product whether it is advertised or not, and in the end, one brand is as good as another.
No laundry detergent will remove from a white T-shirt a stain comprised of chocolate, grape juice, mud, lipstick, crayon, grass stain, blood and motor oil. Regardless of how many times I am shown before-and-after proof of such miracles on television, I do not believe the ads.
If you tell me that your car dealership has the largest selection of high-quality, low-mileage cars and trucks in the Midwest, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. If you claim that your brand of mattress assures perfect alignment of the neck, back and hips and guarantees 20 years of restful sleep, I won’t question your honesty.
But try convincing me that a certain brand of laundry detergent will remove the stain on the front of a onesie that has been serially saturated with the slobber of four siblings, and I will call you a liar right out of the box, or right out of the 64-ounce, recyclable, plastic bottle.
I cringe when I see the television advertisement for life insurance that shows an insensitive young woman, who, upon hearing that her aging father has suffered a potentially serious fall, immediately urges her mother to buy life insurance.
While she is at it, why doesn’t the daughter go ahead and encourage her mother to clean out the attic before she dies so the daughter won’t have to do it herself?
Where is the concern for her father that this daughter should be showing? Where are the reassuring words and warm embraces? Where is the love?
“Where,” the daughter asks, “are your CD’s, your jewels, your deed to the house and title to your car? Where have you hidden money inside the house? How quickly can I cash in your assets when you and dad kick off?”
As a consumer, I am fed up with these disgusting, deceitful and disrespectful television ads. They make me so angry I would quit watching television entirely were it not for the highly educational, morally pure and enormously entertaining shows such products sponsor.
©Debbie Scales January 21, 2016 594 Words
The Happy Geranium 
While we’re on the subject of advertisements, I have been baffled for years when prescription advertisements came into the picture. I have asked myself, “Okay, what good do these prescription advertisements do? I can’t go purchase any because they require a doctor’s script.” So…what does the TV audience do with these prescription advertisements? Do we bring these up at our appointments and “tell” the attending physician, “Hey, I saw this advertisement on TV for _________. Can you try that out on me?” To me, that would feel like I am superseding the doctor’s expert judgment and plan for me. It seems to me that, like the toilet paper, all these wonderful medications requiring a professional script, and unavailable to purchase for most of us, should stay off television and the removal of said advertisements could certainly save the pharmaceutical companies a ton of money. And the worst offenders of these, of course, are the ones promoting sexual intimacy. Even after all these years of “Cialis” and some of the others, I continue to remain embarrassed as these pervasive advertisements float in front of my eyes while my husband and I are watching TV together. I can’t even begin to imagine how parents respond to youngsters when they ask questions about THOSE kinds of advertisements! Ummmm….so sad. I enjoyed reading your perspective on this topic, Debbie! I am curious to know what Dan’s opinion is regarding the purpose of these prescription advertisements? 🙂
Becky, Several people have commented that I should have mentioned the pharmaceutical ads. No wonder our prescription meds cost so much! We are undoubtedly paying for all of that advertising! When I was a little girl, the Cross-Your-Heart bra (or some such bra) was advertised on television. The bra was not displayed on an actual model but on a dummy, with a live model standing nearby and “demonstrating” the bra’s effect on her own totally clothed chest. Anyway, my mom was so embarrassed when that ad came on that she routinely got up and left the room! How far we have come. Debbie
I know…. I first noticed when they put on an ad for Kotex! That brand wasn’t mentioned out loud,even by the racey crowed I ran around with….let alone telling you where it went…..& why……I hate to hear this stuff….I’m sort of glad I usually don’t see this stuff with anyone else in the room…Another good thing about ” RFD.TV”….They do advertise the XL Bander though….Hmmm!
Put my name on that petition…………
I’m gonna be late for church…again
Bonnie, When you and I were growing up, people blushed. Our society today has become hardened. Nothing is too private or personal to be discussed and aired. It’s a sad commentary. It reminds me of what the Prophet Jeremiah wrote of the Israelites:
“Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.” (Jer. 6:15)
Thanks, Bonnie, for reading and commenting.
You are so good at writting what orders think. I love reading your essays, they are so real.
Thank you, Shirley. I figure you and I are both cut from pretty much the same bolt of cloth!