As Seen On YouTube

I was in Walmart the other day and noticed a sign that said: "As Seen on YouTube" it reminded me of the slogan "As seen on TV" and it was probably done with that intention. This was promoting a tool for cleaning your tongue call Orabrush and as advertised you can find it on youtube. I can like or dislike ads, slogans, commercials, and jingles not based on what they are advertising but more on the way it's presented, if I think that they put in a well placed joke or pun that went well with the product I will like it or if they try to play off of the ignorance of the listener I may not like it.

It's clever to take a well known slogan and tie it in with the product your selling but I just don't buy this whole idea. The slogan "As seen on TV" started with Samuel Popeil and his son Ron Popeil in the 1960's. During this time TV was a very new and exciting thing and even now having an infomercial isn't a small or cheep thing to do. Youtube on the other hand is very cheep and easy to use and just about anyone who can make any type of digital recording and has access to a computer with internet access can post just about anything on it. So saying "it's on youtube" means nothing and because it means nothing I think even less of the product your trying to sell then I did before I even knew it existed.

One other commercial that's been bugging me is the one from The Truth Anti-tobacco. I don't have anything against what they are promoting and hope they keep it up but they have I think 2 variations of the same commercial they play every now and then on the radio that I hear. The main point they are trying to make is that the tobacco industry will target anyone regardless of what their interests or hobbies are. This fact may be true but it's true about any other marketing company out there. Businesses sell things with the intent of people buying it and they want as many people to buy it as possible. This doesn't make them a bad company for doing it. They really need to spend less time picking at the company selling tobacco and more time on the harmful effects of tobacco.

One of the largest tobacco companies in the US is Philip Morris. This company started in 1847 in London. I'm sure they had no clue about the harmful effects of tobacco at that time and you couldn't blame them for it. Sure now they know but it's not like they can just say: "oh ya your right they are bad for you so we're just gonna close shop." this would cost hundreds of jobs and be a huge blow to the economy. Yes they need to start taking steps to wean people off tobacco but any negative comments to the companies that sell them is unproductive and in my mind doesn't help their case. All I see is a commercial trying to play off the ignorance of the listener and I don't buy into what ever they are promoting when they do these kinds of things.