Saturday, January 30, 2010
Advertising
Not sure I understand the logic behind accepting the "I didn't have an abortion" ad but rejecting the "gay dating" ad. If "free speech" and "they handed us a check" are the bases for accepting the former, why isn't that the same reason for accepting the latter? It's not as if they're not both subjects that would be difficult for parents to explain to very young children, if very young children in the audience is the concern, but other than that, what's the problem? Many of us don't like all the medical ads - the endless, endless medical ads - but certainly don't expect them to be pulled even if I assembled all kinds of documentation to show that drug companies cause ill health (and plump up their bottom lines) by focusing on illness instead of wellness (not to mention the assault on our personal attempts to stay healthy). The point is that advertising is first and foremost a business transaction: you pay, you run your ad. I guess you can't espouse the overthrow of a government or anarchy or whatever, and shouldn't show truly horrible things, but otherwise, what the heck.
As a bipolar person, I have to say that modern drugs to treat the illness have possibly saved my life, and definitely my sanity. We've come a long way from simple lithium. I don't know of any way to prevent a mental illness, but drugs are essential in treatment.
ReplyDeleteRemicade has also been almost miraculous in helping my husband with his five autoimmune disorders. Now it is suggested that autoimmune disorders come about because the immune system has so little else to fight in a First World civilization where we have conquered many diseases. But I don't think people want to go back to the times when you had to worry about typhoid if you drank the wrong water, or getting polio and ending up dead or in an iron lung.
Drug companies have their faults, like everyone and everything else. I just had to point out how they have really helped, also.
Hey Barb, I wasn't criticizing drugs at all!! I'm really very glad that you and your husband live now when drugs provide relief from extremely hard and relentless situations. All I meant to say (although I was apparently not successful, and I apologize) was that networks run lots of ads for drugs for mature/ difficult things (e.g., ED) so it seems illogical and unfair for them to refuse this one so arbitrarily.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the problem of auto-immune disease isn't caused by the defeat of major diseases like typhus. There are two things I've been suspicious of, one is the over use of anti-biotics, which means the immune system is bypassed and as well as killing off the bad bacteria much good bacteria is killed off too.
ReplyDeleteThe second is the hyper hygiene that has become so fashionable. The freaking out if a kid comes within two yards of a speck of dirt, don't play in the dirt outside,don't touch a dog without washing hands afterwards, don't open a door without a paper towel to cover the door knob, anti-bactial soaps, cleaners and creams, anti bacterial dish washing liquid for heaven's sake! Kids grow up without being exposed to 'germs' and therefore don't develop immunities. I read once about a study on kids in Northern Ontario and the incidence of asthma among them. It seems that kids from farms who worked with animals and whose houses were, well, farmhouses, were less likely to develop asthma than town kids in nice clean houses. [For 'nice clean', read sterile.]
Well, but if you knew my mother-in-law, you would know that my husband did NOT grow up in a overly sterile environment. Not to mention anti-bacterial soaps and hand cleaners were not even around when we were kids. I doubt my husband got overdosed on the antibiotics either, his family just wasn't like that. He probably did get a huge heaping helping when he had pneumonia, but then, he had pneumonia.
ReplyDeleteI tend to think his asthma comes from his parents' smoking, same as his mother's really bad asthma which didn't get really bad until she was well into adulthood. Although it seems to have a hereditary component as well.
I have read that just having animals in the house when your kids are just born and very young cuts down on allergies.
Interesting exchange! And, Barb, that's fascinating about animals especially when you consider that many parents banish pets precisely to keep it cleaner for the new baby! (My newest g'child - he's a year old now - should be all set, then - he started crawling and putting ANYthing in his mouth practically the minute he got out (I'm exaggerating of course but only a little).
ReplyDeleteAh but I didn't mean to say that all auto-immune diseases are caused by the aforementioned sterile homes, just to say I believe there might be a link given the huge increase in them in recent years.The study in N Ontario showing kids in 'clean' city homes were more likely to suffer than kids from farms bears that out.
ReplyDeleteI realise also that better diagnosis now from say fifty years ago might account for some of the increase.
BTW, I don't like the Viagra commercials either but they must be big money, judging by the amount of spam I get for it. I also don't like a lot of the beer commercials. The guys are Neanderthals and/or the women are slutty.
ReplyDeleteGood point. Which is why I don't understand CBS disallowing the gay dating ad. It's not any more offensive than tons of what already runs, and less than many. If they're going to stop accepting ads that "might" offend someone, they'll have to remove 90% of what's out there!!! :)
ReplyDelete