Politics & Advertising (So what is my point?)

Now that the current round of elections is over, and we have a too-brief respite from the negative ads, The Swami can cut back on his meds. If only we could heavily sedate the lobbyists and advertising types.

Swami is constantly being annoyed by misleading advertisements. Just yesterday I received two packages of invisible tape I ordered for my tape dispenser. "Invisible tape" my foot, I could see both of them! How can they get away with that?

Of course, one of my "favorite?" ad/marketing maneuvers took place over a several year period with our laundry/yak detergent. The product scoop included in the box was, at least twice, increased in size. Presumably this was so that we would use more of the product, which will remain nameless, but which is made by a huge international conglomerate. It would be nice to see the tide turn so they could take a product and gamble that we could manage with the original size scoop.


One of the best examples of honest, non-exaggerated, advertising ever was a tailor's sign in Al-Khobar Saudi Arabia (about 1977):



















I doubt that the we will ever have a return to modesty in advertising. We can only hope.

As the old yak herders used to say: "You can lead a blind squirrel to water, but you can't make a silk purse out of its ear."