Archive for the ‘Advertising’ Category

Unintended Baby Formula Consequences

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

Mrs Rob was looking up information about “follow-on milk”, which according to manufacturers is especially blended to provide exactly the right nutrients for a 6-month old baby. She found this:

I’ve been told that follow on milk is a bit misleading, in that the contents are virtually identical to new baby formula milk, but is produced (or should that be “Specially formulated!) in order to get around new strict EU regulations prohibiting the advertising of formula milk to babies.

This is why the packets now have eg. big 1, 2 and 3 on the packets, so a product advertised as 3 will mean your mind will recognise 1 and 2 without advertising being necessary. Maybe I’m just being cynical but I’d check the ingredients/vitamin breakdown very carefully.

I can’t verify this, but it sounds plausible. It’s certainly true that it is illegal to advertise formula for babies up to 6 months old.

The National Childbirth Trust, Save The Children and Unicef say the current partial ban is not enough, and parents have been left confused.

They want the government to extend a ban on infant milk adverts to include “follow-on” milks for older babies.

I don’t really understand why the breastfeeding movement is so vehement. As far as I can tell, breast milk is slightly better for a baby than formula, but formula is a marvel of modern technology and perfectly good enough. Certainly a mother who prefers to use it for whatever reason shouldn’t feel guilty.

So why the scare-mongering and bansturbating?

Update: Lisa from All About the Voluntary responds.

Beer Advert

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

What I like about this beer advert, that I saw at the cinema last night, is that it’s an unashamed lifestyle advert. Drink our product and you too will get to hang out with beautiful people in the sun wearing hardly any clothes. The product being advertised is obscured until the end, so I kept waiting for the car crash and the drink-driving message, but no.

Update: The music is from a band called Billie The Vision and The Dancers. The song is called Summercat from the album I Was So Unpopular In School and Now They’re Giving Me This Beautiful Bicycle. All the band’s music is free to download, but if you like it you can donate. You get more of what you reward, after all. The songs are available in the excellent FLAC format, too. This is a business model I really hope can be successful. Perhaps doing the beer advert will bring the band lots of trade. I hope so.

Calendar

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

My wife bought a Guiness calendar because she likes the artwork. On the back of the calendar is the web address drinkaware.co.uk and below that the text:

This product is intended for purchase and enjoyment to people of legal purchase age for alcohol beverages. Always drink responsibly.

My goodness.

Bartle Bogle Hegarty

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

They have done it again. This time, the Barclaycard contactless card is used from a roller coaster. In a world of PVRs, advertisers have to make adverts that people want to watch, and it shows.

I have one problem with contactless cards. The standard apparently doesn’t allow the reader to discriminate between cards. I used to leave my Oyster card in my wallet, but now my other contactless cards interfere with it, so I have to take it out.

Watching ASB

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

No they won’t. What a load of old rubbish.

Advertising to Men vs. Advertising to Women

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Just saw an advert in which a woman complains about her stretch marks, which reminded me of this, which tickled me:

We Can Make Them Brush Their Tounges

Tuesday, January 8th, 2008

From Mitchell and Webb, this is a perfect satire that explains how we get adverts that try to blind us with pseudo-science and convince us we have problems we don’t have. I remember seeing it on TV over a year ago and was reminded of it when I saw a real advert for a toothbrush that had a tounge brushing appliance.

(Incidentally, this probably shouldn’t be on YouTube, but I can’t imagine it being so doing Mitchell and Webb anything but good.)

I tried to brush my tounge once. It made me gag.

That Mitchell and Webb Look » Season 1 Episode 5  » EPISODE: 5 at LocateTV.com

Economics with Bullsh^H^H^H^H^H^HJustice

Friday, January 4th, 2008

A poster at the tube station advertises courses on Economics with Justice at something called School of Economic Science in London. Bleh.

The course attempts to show how principles of truth, love and service translate into policies for governments and economic planners and practical precepts for individual households and businesses.

Advice to students: don’t waste your time. Go and do a real course.

Che Branson

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

This is a poster advertising the Financial Times. The caption reads, “Business revolutionaries. Past, present and future.” Might not the FT be doing Richard Branson an injustice by associating him with a mass murderer?

Silly Reward

Wednesday, May 30th, 2007

Don’t all energy companies reward their customers for using less of their product, by charging them less?


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