More on advertising

I've already said that I blame the advertising industry--and more recently the whole information industry--for the fact that Johnny can't read, but now we are seeing some interesting new twists.

Have you seen Kraft's new ad for American Cheese? "Only one country" can have this cheese, they tell us, "and that country is America!"

Say WHAAAAATTT?????

America is not a country folks, it is two continents full of countries! Canadians and Mexicans, and yes, Venezuelans and many others, all have as much right as citizens of the United States of America, to refer to themselves as Americans.

This is the sort of overstatement common to wrong-wing bigots.

Our country is not called America, it is called the United States of America, frequently shortened to the United States. This idea of considering our country to be the only one in the Americas, is all too common these days, and is what got us into the position we are now in, where many citizens in South America hate our guts as much as the citizens of many countries in Europe and Asia. Hopefully this new President will take steps to cure this, not only among world leaders, but among our own citizens as well.

And have you seen the latest trend in advertising? I might like to try that Contour belt, or the Ab Circle, to see if there really is an easy way to perk up one's muscles without doing all of those nasty exercises. But they are saying that I can try it in my home for 30 days for only $14.95 or $14.99 or whatever, but they might actually want me to pay shipping and handling as well, which is often far more than they should be charging for that. Face it; when I owned a photo studio in the 1970s, I was told that I should sell my photos for FIVE TIMES the actual cost of the prints to me. That same markup is the traditional markup for mail order products like these. They are not telling me what my final cost will be if I choose to purchase their product. Or are they actually just leasing it for, say, $29.99 per month? That could get really expensive.... And the S&H charges now clearly pay for not only shipping and handling, but also for the product as well, which is how they get you when they offer those free bonuses, and say "Just pay seperate shipping and handling." The USPS is now offering fixed rate shipping up to 70 lbs anywhere in the country--and it is well under $20 in most cases, and if the weight is under two pounds, it gets down around $6 total cost including the box. So the initial price they are quoting you is pure profit, and the shipping and handling they quote you may well include some profit as well.

Just how stupid do these people think we are????