More ads that annoy me...

So after my little rant about Meadow Lea the other day, I have decided to share some other ads currently making me grind my teeth.

Apologies to anyone outside mainland Australia, but hey, just play some elevator musak and play along...

Allie from In a Beautiful Pea Green Boat mentioned a great one in her comment last week. It's an ad for baby formula - I think it's for Wyeth's S26 formula, but I can't be sure, and my cursory internet search failed to yield a result, so I give up! It starts of with a paediatrican (we know this because her name and quals are shown at the bottom of the screen) in a hospital hallway talking about how because of her job, she knows how important it is to provide the best nutrition to young babies... then she lovingly pats a baby on the head and strolls off... the baby's mother (we know this because her name and the title Mother are shown at the bottom of the screen) then continues talking about that's why she choose this particular formula. This ad gets to me because it makes it seem that the paed has recommended the formula. This is not so. The Mum does. Certainly there is an implied endorsement by the Doctor simply by being in the ad, but it's all just a little too "sleight-of-hand" for me.



Then there are the ads that aren't necessarily dodgy, just annoying...

First is the MBF Health Insurance ad that runs along the lines of "You need health insurance because somebody waxed the floor without telling you" and shows a guy sulking in a hospital bed in traction, while a girl smiles sheepishly at him and lavishes apologies on him... it just makes me feel like saying, "Oh crack the freaking sads then! D'ya need me to let you know when I've cleaned the windows too, so you don't stick your head straight through them you great clodding, clumsy prick!!! Geez... be glad you have someone willing to clean up after your filth in the first place!" But maybe that's just me...

Then there is pretty much anything advertising a "beauty" product. I'm sorry, but if you expect me to believe that you and you alone have discovered a new enzyme, protein or Martian lizard poo that will lift sagging skin, erase wrinkles like an iron and magically turn me into a vision of youthful loveliness despite my lack of sleep, busy life and complete disregard for sun protection, then you are as deluded as the poor saps who buy it.

Oh, and don't get me started on those "shouty" ads...

Truth in Advertising - The Follow Up

Well whadda ya know!

Seems like I'm not the only one noticing what's going on with sneaky old Meadow Lea. I just saw the series of ads I posted about last night again, only now they have two screen shots at the end saying the ad was brought to us by Goodman Fielder and the Heart Foundation.

Hmm, that, or maybe my blog gets read by more people than I realise!!! :-)

You might think the Heart Foundation thing would hold a bit of weight, but remember this is the same foundation that gave their "tick" of approval to McDonalds meals.

As for Goodman Fielder, that strong upstanding-sounding company (hell, it even has "good" in their name)... hmm, imagine that, they own Meadow Lea!!!!

Do these people think we're stupid?

Truth in Advertising? Pfft!!!

It's hard enough to decide what to feed out kids today, deciphering nurtition panels, de-coding food additives and pronouncing tert-Butylhydroquinone.

Then along come smarmy old Meadow Lea. Sinking to a new advertising low. First of all, we see a TV advert with a cardiologist talking about how butter is evil and showing a massive pile of butter representing a year's worth of intake and talking about saturated fat..

Then said cardiologist suggests using a margarine spread instead. Oh yes, much better, plant sterols etc., etc.

Now my issue isn't even with the whole butter/margarine debate, it's about how NOWHERE on this ad is there any mention of who paid to put this ad on TV.

Because, in a startling co-incidence, every time this ad shows, two ads later, an ad for Meadow Lea is shown. What serendipity!!! They even show a remarkably similar shot of seeds sitting radiantly in the palm of a hand.

What this means is, for those not paying attention or easily mislead, they think a cardiologist has recommended Meadow Lea. Quick! Let's rush to the store and buy some!!

Now personally, I stick to the theory that the less a food has been interfered with, the better. I think a little bit of butter and other fats in a healthy, active child's diet is better than margarine, which I'm still suss on.

Never mind that margarine is usually hydrogenated and full of trans-fatty acids that raise LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol just like the saturated fats in butter, but have you ever tasted it? Blurgh...

I'm not saying don't eat margarine if that's your choice, I'm no dietician and plenty of people know more about nutrition than me. What I am saying is know when you are being sold to and manipulated.