I was watching TV today, and a commercial for some kind of laundry product came on, where this woman drops a sock on the floor. At that point, little animated germs start having a party on it, and she re-washes the sock(!?!), with the voice over saying something about how effective this product is.
Are people really this anal about cleanliness, or is this commercial really kind of ridiculous? I can’t help but figure that there’s a market segment that this commercial appeals to, and it kind of scares me.
My family’s pretty ridiculously clean- microwave the sponges, clean with bleach, etc… but none of us would bat an eye about using a sock dropped on the laundry room floor, or drying a damp one that fell down on the way from the washer to the dryer. It’s not like dropping your fork in the toilet then using it after all…
In typical commercialistic fashion, the companies are trying to create a market that either doesn’t exist or isn’t big enough to be profitable. Their other marketing niches have levelled off or are shrinking so that have to find new ways to sell the same product.
I’m sure there are people that anal and it’s kinda sucks that the marketing weasels are targeting them.
I’ve never met anyone quite that bad about cleanliness, but I guess it’s possible that some people are that obsessed with germs. Awfully small subset of the poputation, though, and it seems like an odd marketing strategy to me. Maybe they were trying to be funny?
In my house, unless that sock fell into the toilet or onto something gross and sticky, I wouldn’t re-wash it.
Since all skin cells die and flake off everyone has dandruff. Not everyone has enough to ever matter visually, though.
I have somewhat bad dandruff that I treat with a zinc shampoo. I’m not ashamed of dandruff at all, if I scratch my head because of my scalp irritation and some dead skin comes off it’s not like I urinated then didn’t wash my hands or came to work in a tank top and boxer shorts.
Just like I’m not embarassed when I sneeze or cough.
To be more specific I don’t use the zinc shampoos to cure the dandruff (the only problem I have with it is it’s annoying on black clothing) I use it to cure the inflammation that comes along with it.
The more I think about it, the weirder that ad is (not that I’ve seen it). Socks go on your feet, which aren’t exactly incredibly vulnerable to germs. Socks are what you wear around the house, unless you’re barefoot, so they are supposed to go on the floor, right? Unless you wear shoes all the time indoors? And who wears shoes indoors all the time? People in ads, I guess. Probably they have foot fungus problems because of all that shoe-wearing.
If the floor is so dirty that dropping a sock upon it means that the sock becomes unwearable, it may be time to clean the floor rather than the sock. (Maybe the woman lives in one of those homes you see on How clean is your house??)
I can see how, if you dropped underwear on the floor, and it was inside-out, you would throw it back in the laundry basket. But socks?
I think people are being brainwashed by the marketing companies so they’ll use more of these products, more often. I think the people who make the product want people to think they should be that anal, so are presenting such neurotic behavior as normal. Just like all those air fresheners that “kill the germs that cause odors in the air”, (What a crock that line is, but people swallow it hook line and sinker.) and all those products with bleach in a disposable cleaning cloth, not to mention Lysol and all the antibacterial soaps. If we used all those products as liberally as they portray in the commercials, we’d likely make ourselves and our loved ones ill with respirtory infections from all the widely varied aerosal and fumes.
I’ve noticed this trend for several years now, and I think it’s ridiculous, and also frightening how easily people are buying into it. It makes me wonder how many more supergerms and viruses are being bred due to overuse of antibacterial products? Not that I find the products completely useless. Far from it. I put antibacterial hand soap in the bathroom, I use Lysol (sparingly compared to the commercials), and I use bleach for clothing, and in Comet scrubbing powder. I might use a bleach wipe on the kitchen counter if I prepared fish or chicken on it, but I’m just as likely to reach for 409 and some paper towels. I don’t use aerosal sprays to “kill germs in the air”, I don’t use Febreeze at all because I’m horribly allergic to it, it’s way too potent. Instead I burn incense or use a tea light oil diffuser to scent my home. I don’t have a putrid melange of clashing scents, a different one for each room. If I drop a sock on the floor I pick it up, get any lint off it, and put it away knowing my (recently washed) hands probably have as much, if not more germs than the floor, and that we’ll survive anyway, because mankind has survived in far filthier conditions for centuries. I keep a clean, sanitary house, and I’m not buying into the mentality various commercials want me to, because I know better.
And I think the whole germ-phobia has gotten way out of hand! If it’s not edible or used to deliver something edible to the eater, and if it doesn’t fall in to a slimy, icky, gooey puddle, then it can be shaken or dusted off and that’s that. Eons ago, I babysat for a couple who didn’t bat an eye when their son used to dog’s chew bones as teething rings. It grossed me out at the time, but both the dog and the boy grew up just fine. So much for germs.
There are a couple of TV ads for Clorox that are the epitome of hyper cleanliness paranoia, the ones that spout the dangers of “body soil.” If you make the tragic mistake of wearing a T-shirt that was washed without their brand of sodium hpyochlorite you will be covered in a bubbling cauldron of filth.
I saw one of these commercials. This guy jumps into bed, but he freezes in mid-air above the bed and the bed sheets (which are a sparkling, snowy white) turn into a pool of bubbling brown ooze, while the announcer says something like “If you don’t use Clorox Bleach, you’re sleeping in body filth!”
It irked my husband to death. He commented “They’re trying to make us all hypochondriacs, ferchrissake.” That’s exactly what they want. “You are filthy, but if you buy our products, we will make you clean!”
Doesn’t it make you feel evil enough to say “Yeah, I sleep in body filth every night and love it. Wouldn’t sleep any other way!” (or something more creative, but equally as “evil”) with a perverse grin if confronted with someone who bought into such nonsense?
Your family scares me! Microwaving sponges? This is why everyone is allergic to everything! Harden up!
Jeez if people can live through this Tsunami and the poverty and illness that follows then your family is clearly hyper nuts microwaving sponges. Re-washing socks is clearly to nuts to speak of…typical advertising.
A few years ago there was a commercial for some sort of feminine stuff (probably douche) that showed an immaculately dressed, skinny-assed model getting ready to use the product. As the commercial ends, she pulls on some elbow-length yellow rubber gloves, gives them a snap, and looks at the camera with an expression like she’s preparing for a particularly nasty Rotor Rooter job.
In real life the yellow rubber gloves are used to protect one’s hands and lower arms from something toxic. If Skinny Model’s feminine parts are festering to the point where she needs rubber gloves for protection, she really should see a doctor, pronto.
If the gloves are for the purpose of protecting Miss Skinny’s dainty parts from her hands, perhaps she could simply wash her hands prior to initiating the procedure.
If Skinny Imaginary Woman simply feels more secure wearing gloves, a pair of wrist-length latex gloves would be sufficient and probably more sanitary.
There were obviously no women involved in the development of the commercial, up to the point of filming with the model/actress. You’d think even she would’ve had difficulty carrying on with a straight face.
FWIW, here’s a thought. Perhaps the appeal of these products to the average person is that it’s an aspect of the environment that they can personally control. We don’t have any particular hands-on control over what’s spewed into the atmosphere daily, for example, but by Og, we can sure get rid of those pesky germs!
I’m of the opinion myself that we need to allow our bodies some exposure so that our natural defense mechanisms can work properly. I don’t resort to antibiotics unless absolutely called for. However, I do wear shoes in the house because I just don’t like the feeling of bare floor or carpet on my feeties.
Generally, your sink and sponges are more nasty and bacteriologically suspect than your toilet. It’s probably worth spending a little effort on them instead of worrying about your commode.
Haaaaahahahahaha. I’m so glad I just watch DVDs or play video games now, and my only TV viewing is channel 8 and, rarely, the Simpsons. I miss out on all these great commercials.
Whoever really fears something like that would love me. My idea of “clean” as far as clothes are concerned, is “doesn’t smell.” I wear it… if it smells alright, it goes back on the hanger. If it smells, or I was around someone smoking, or something like that, it goes in the laundry pile. The only thing I wear once and wash is underwear. I’ll re-wear socks if it becomes necessary, though I have so many socks it’s not really necessary. As for the guy jumping in the brown bed of ooze… I wear the same pajamas for like a WHOLE WEEK without washing them OR my sheets. Feh! Feh I say!
I’m convinced my lack of germ-paranoia has given me a super-strong immune system. The closest thing I ever get to a cold is feeling a bit crappy for a couple days because I can feel my body fighting something off. I don’t have allergies. I’ve managed to avoid taking ANY antibiotics of any form for almost four years.
I also don’t have money to waste on overpriced unnecessary cleaning products or ten gallons of laundry detergent a month.
