Blessed be.

Happy holidays! A reminder of how small we really are, and how great His glory.



In this, the darkest time of year (in the Northern hemisphere, at least), stay warm, love one another, and go on doing good.

Cheers,
J

Marketing Hysteria 101

Create a problem. Bonus points if this problem is psychosomatic, caused by microscopic germs or other parasites invisible to the naked eye, or something that causes your skin to crawl and reach for disinfectant (ACME* Brand Ultra-Antiseptic Strength).

Create a product that solves this imaginary problem or tries to address it => $$

Examples of hysteria created by the advertising industry:

DUST MITES

RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME

Soap the only way Tyler Durden would have it.

There's a new ad campaign by a major soap company that starts with D* that shows how most soaps leave an imperceptible scum or residue on the skin after showering, while D* doesn't. The ads show two different women using soap, one with D* and the other using a competitor's product, and then compare the two under a mysterious purple UV/infrared light. The competitor's soap leaves streaks of soap scum on the woman's skin after showering, while D*'s doesn't.

This ad campaign bugs me on a number of different levels because we shouldn't be using detergents on our skin.

Most "soaps" on the market today are actually detergents.

Detergents: harsh cleaning agents common to laundry detergent, shampoo, antibacterial liquid soaps, body washes, etc, that usually contain sulfates, artificial colors and fragrances.
Soaps: made in the traditional way from boiling animal fat and alkali (lye).

Detergents are better cleaning agents than soaps because they don't form soap scum in hard water, while fat-based soaps do. Of course, this is great for laundry, leaving your white clothes brilliantly white, or for scrubbing bathroom floors and shower walls sparkly clean.

However, detergents strip the skin of natural oils, leaving it dry and flaky, which is why I use oil-based, sulfate-free soaps as often as I can. I look for natural products with a high content of natural oils, moisturizers, and plant extracts. I've found olive oil soaps to be the best.

My favorite is Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. At first, bathing with something enitrely oil-based may seem strange, but I've found that these products are just as effective as detergents. They don't leave any kind of "invisible" residue that I care about (yeah, that's the soap product market creating more hysteria so you'll freak out and go buy detergents) and in fact, I WANT the olive oil and plant extracts to stay on my skin and moisturize and nourish it.

This goes the same for shampoos, too. At first I was reluctant to use Dr. Bronner's as a shampoo, thinking that all of the oils would make my scalp oilier, but it cleaned just as well as my sulfate-based shampoos, and lathered well too. The only issue I had is that it left my hair with a coarse kind of texture, I guess the way nature intended, not with the polished, fake, shiny, smooth, silicone-coated sheen that that cosmoceutical marketing departments love to try to sell.

Use real soap, not detergent.

Some further reading:
Truth and Lies in Organic Personal Care
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

SNL Lazy Sunday - Parnell/Sandberg

This really cracks me up.

How Hot Dogs are Made.

Are you disgusted yet?

Green Gifts

Timbuk2 Hidden Tote, Recycled PET Fabric.

Folds up into a zip-up pouch. Should've had one when I went to the market today! Also comes in a backpack style.