the power of advertising

I feel compelled to blog by some adverts I have seen recently.

The first tells us how our clothes are covered in bacteria, and how washing at low temperatures does not kill this bacteria. So now that we are being green and washing at lower temperatures our clothes may look just as clean, and we may be wondering why on earth it is that we ever washed at such high temperatures. But, oh no! Wait! We are leaving bacteria on our clothes. Not to mention of course that there is bacteria on everything including inside our bodies. What sort of deadly bacteria precisely are infecting our clothes I wonder? But anyway, we now NEED a product to put in the washing machine to kill this bacteria even at low temperatures. Presumably this product is not made of natural plant oils, but probably androgenising chemicals that kill good stuff and infect waterways. Even if it doesn't do that it makes us spend money that could be spent on something better and makes us feel that by doing good we are doing bad. I have no idea whether there are bacteria on my clothes or not, and frankly I don't care. I have been washing at 30 for nearly 10 years, using only soap nuts for about 4 years and I don't seem to be dying of bacteria infestation.

The next advert to get my goat is one that I heard without seeing. Lots of people talking about all the green things they do, making dinner from scraps, turning off lights, quite a range of things. I didn't see it and it didn't say what it was advertising it just said it was "thanking the people greening Britain". Later I saw the advert and it was for EDF. What more do I need to say? I am not surprised they are thanking people for greening Britain it takes the heat off them and means people are less likely to notice that they are blackening Britain. Harumph.