Why does it matter?

Today, when I told somebody I had started this blog, I was asked "why does it matter?" Good question.

Adverts aren't hugely important in the grand scheme of things. Most people turn them off, tune them out or use the ad break to have a wee. We flick past adverts in newspapers and magazines and we barely even notice them on public transport. Nevertheless there is strong evidence that people are hugely influenced by advertising, even sub-conciously. Sometimes the advert itself can be awful yet you get the brand name in your head and that's the point, job done. Just seeing a brand advertised gives us faith that the company has some credibility - after all they must be doing well to be able to afford adverts. Popularity breeds popularity and you're more likely to then pick that brand in a shop. Aside from their pervasiveness and influence on our consumer behaviour, adverts also provide a reflection of our society and arguably influence it too. Adverts are everywhere and they matter.

The people that dream up adverts tap into various aspects of our psyches; fears and insecurities, aspirations, competitiveness, nosalgia and so on. In the case of beauty adverts, a specific group is predominantly being targetted: women. And the advertisers are usually tapping into our insecurities, aspirations and competitveness with other women. I wouldn't mind if beauty products were viewed as a bit of fun, but I do hate that women seem to NEED beauty products, having an underlying worry that without them they just aren't good enough. Adverts feed and encourage this view; it sells products after all.

By the way, if this strikes a chord with you, I strongly suggest you read The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. It's basically aboout how the beauty industry feeds off womens' insecurities to make money and how womens' fixation with appearance holds them back.
I dare you to read it and not feel as if it's changed your life and outlook on beauty products.

Anyway, back to the science bit! We live in a society that's still quite scientifically illiterate. We have climate change deniers, people who believe in the idiocy that is Brain Gym, who fiercely oppose GM foods but are happy with medicines produced by GM organisms, who fear the MMR vaccine, who think creationism should be taught in classrooms and that "chemicals" are bad and "natural ingredients" are good (FYI all natural ingredients are chemicals!) And every time an advert justifies a product with a meaningless CGI sequence, uses made up words like "nutrileum" or "pro-V", cites consumer surveys where only 15 women were actually surveyed, bases claims on research that isn't publicly available or makes a great fuss over being "natural" and "chemical-free", it contributes to that scientific illiteracy just a little bit. It encourages people to trust in the science without actually using proper science. It's patronising to women, insults science and frankly it really fucks me off!

So I know it's not the worst thing ever. It doesn't kill people and I'm not saying anyone should stop buying products. In fact the mean side of me thinks it's just a stupid tax for people dumb enough to spend £50 on a pot of cream. But bad science in adverts is an abuse of power. It's asking you to spend your hard-earned money on a product in the faith that there is some evidence that it works better than an alternative, when maybe it doesn't. In short, it's a lie. And beauty products can't be avoided completely. Everyone needs shampoo.

And that is why bad science in adverts matters.

The wonder of the internet, and of blogging and social networking sites in paerticular, is that anyone can have a forum for expressing their views. This is where I express mine. But I'm really keen to get other peoples' views so please share comments, either below or via Twitter. Thanks!