Oh God, I hate these ads so much! The universities in my city have started installing hand-sanitizer dispensers with similarly threatening virus/bacteria posters. I'm very tempted to deface these posters with a message about how the use of these 'anti-bacterial' agents are endangering the lives of all of us through growing bacterial resistance.
Dubi — November 22, 2008
What's impressive about this is that they clearly state that Lyson kills 99.9% of GERMS, while at the same time acknowledging that the flu is caused by a VIRUS, so, in fact, Lyson is useless against it...
Jay Livingston — November 22, 2008
So what else is new? Lysol marketing has been based on this phobia for at least fifty years. What would be interesting is if they changed the basic rationale of their produce.
Dangger — November 22, 2008
exactly what I was about to say MeToo, these products do grow super bugs.
Bagelsan — November 22, 2008
I'm waiting for this line of thinking: "bacteria can harbor viruses... some viruses can cause cancer... LYSOL CAN PREVENT CANCER!!one!" I believe this would not only demonstrate Lysol's *excellent* grasp of biology, but also really promote truth and realism in advertising.
Village Idiot — November 22, 2008
So if 99.9% of 100,000,000 germs are killed (probably far more can be found on a phone handset), that leaves 0.1% of germs NOT killed which comes to 100,000 resistant (and probably very annoyed) germs left to worry about! There's no stopping them! We're all gonna die!
Really, all you have to do to stay far healthier than average (in terms of infectious microbes) is wash your hands occasionally and never, ever rub your eye with your finger (cover it with part of your shirt or something first). Seriously, that's where most of our typical colds and the flu get inside us.
Also, the ad is technically correct in that the telephone handset is one of the nastiest things in the house in terms of microbial threats, so do not pick it up and lick it (or stick it in your eye). Telephones are almost as bad as the grout between the tiles of kitchen counters, or your car's steering wheel, or that old toothbrush you've been meaning to replace.
Village Idiot — November 22, 2008
P.S.: Dry steam kills 100% of 'germs,' even on porous surfaces (all surfaces are porous to a degree) and microbes cannot become resistant to it.
Lazercat — November 22, 2008
I actually remember seeing one ad for a (somewhat sketchy) cleaning product, that claimed to kill the AIDS virus. I kid you not.
Germophobia is so annoying over here...people who are addicted to sanitizer/afraid to touch doorknobs, etc. And then these people go to developing countries and whine about how dirty and gross everything is.
Meanwhile, I still see some people, *grown adults*, leaving the bathroom without washing their hands!
It's like either we're complete obsessive germophobes or disgusting slobs. No common sense on either side...
acolyte — November 22, 2008
And we wonder why we have super germs with all this liberal use of disinfectants and sanitizers..........
Louisa — November 22, 2008
I think we all need a stronger science education in the US... Not all bacteria are bad. A lot of bacteria on our skin is beneficial.
Anonymous — December 3, 2008
"I actually remember seeing one ad for a (somewhat sketchy) cleaning product, that claimed to kill the AIDS virus."
See, the funny thing about that, Lazercat, is that HIV is actually a very fragile virus and doesn't survive outside of the human body for very long. So unless you're using the product to clean up fresh (still body-temperature) blood, it doesn't matter...the virus died on its own anyway.
hypatia — January 5, 2009
My favourite Lysol commercial was the one that tried to make the comparison that your kitchen counter is as dirty as your toilet seat. Which is probably factually true; they just gloss over the fact that the average toilet seat has basically no bacteria or viruses living on it. A wonderful example of trying to play on people's visceral reactions.
hoshi — March 5, 2009
proud "plain" soap user here! the only times i use bacteria-killing cleaners are when i've been dealing with raw meat or cleaning out my turtle tank.
but in regards to this ad, i have to say that Clorox made one that was worse. they showed a guy about to jump into bed and while he was paused above it, they made the sheet look like wriggling mud and preached about "body filth." absolutely disgusting. and in no way did it make me want to buy their product. ugh.
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Comments 13
MeToo — November 22, 2008
Oh God, I hate these ads so much! The universities in my city have started installing hand-sanitizer dispensers with similarly threatening virus/bacteria posters. I'm very tempted to deface these posters with a message about how the use of these 'anti-bacterial' agents are endangering the lives of all of us through growing bacterial resistance.
Dubi — November 22, 2008
What's impressive about this is that they clearly state that Lyson kills 99.9% of GERMS, while at the same time acknowledging that the flu is caused by a VIRUS, so, in fact, Lyson is useless against it...
Jay Livingston — November 22, 2008
So what else is new? Lysol marketing has been based on this phobia for at least fifty years. What would be interesting is if they changed the basic rationale of their produce.
Dangger — November 22, 2008
exactly what I was about to say MeToo, these products do grow super bugs.
Bagelsan — November 22, 2008
I'm waiting for this line of thinking: "bacteria can harbor viruses... some viruses can cause cancer... LYSOL CAN PREVENT CANCER!!one!" I believe this would not only demonstrate Lysol's *excellent* grasp of biology, but also really promote truth and realism in advertising.
Village Idiot — November 22, 2008
So if 99.9% of 100,000,000 germs are killed (probably far more can be found on a phone handset), that leaves 0.1% of germs NOT killed which comes to 100,000 resistant (and probably very annoyed) germs left to worry about! There's no stopping them! We're all gonna die!
Really, all you have to do to stay far healthier than average (in terms of infectious microbes) is wash your hands occasionally and never, ever rub your eye with your finger (cover it with part of your shirt or something first). Seriously, that's where most of our typical colds and the flu get inside us.
Also, the ad is technically correct in that the telephone handset is one of the nastiest things in the house in terms of microbial threats, so do not pick it up and lick it (or stick it in your eye). Telephones are almost as bad as the grout between the tiles of kitchen counters, or your car's steering wheel, or that old toothbrush you've been meaning to replace.
Village Idiot — November 22, 2008
P.S.: Dry steam kills 100% of 'germs,' even on porous surfaces (all surfaces are porous to a degree) and microbes cannot become resistant to it.
Lazercat — November 22, 2008
I actually remember seeing one ad for a (somewhat sketchy) cleaning product, that claimed to kill the AIDS virus. I kid you not.
Germophobia is so annoying over here...people who are addicted to sanitizer/afraid to touch doorknobs, etc. And then these people go to developing countries and whine about how dirty and gross everything is.
Meanwhile, I still see some people, *grown adults*, leaving the bathroom without washing their hands!
It's like either we're complete obsessive germophobes or disgusting slobs. No common sense on either side...
acolyte — November 22, 2008
And we wonder why we have super germs with all this liberal use of disinfectants and sanitizers..........
Louisa — November 22, 2008
I think we all need a stronger science education in the US... Not all bacteria are bad. A lot of bacteria on our skin is beneficial.
Anonymous — December 3, 2008
"I actually remember seeing one ad for a (somewhat sketchy) cleaning product, that claimed to kill the AIDS virus."
See, the funny thing about that, Lazercat, is that HIV is actually a very fragile virus and doesn't survive outside of the human body for very long. So unless you're using the product to clean up fresh (still body-temperature) blood, it doesn't matter...the virus died on its own anyway.
hypatia — January 5, 2009
My favourite Lysol commercial was the one that tried to make the comparison that your kitchen counter is as dirty as your toilet seat. Which is probably factually true; they just gloss over the fact that the average toilet seat has basically no bacteria or viruses living on it. A wonderful example of trying to play on people's visceral reactions.
hoshi — March 5, 2009
proud "plain" soap user here! the only times i use bacteria-killing cleaners are when i've been dealing with raw meat or cleaning out my turtle tank.
but in regards to this ad, i have to say that Clorox made one that was worse. they showed a guy about to jump into bed and while he was paused above it, they made the sheet look like wriggling mud and preached about "body filth." absolutely disgusting. and in no way did it make me want to buy their product. ugh.