HEALTH WATCH : Advertisers Cleaning Up on Fear of Germs
Germs are back.
Those who track trends in advertising and who sell disinfecting products confirm that today’s Americans are acutely attuned to the invisible, microbial world and its potential hazards.
“People are more wary of unseen dangers in water or air or in their food,” says Jane Fitzgibbon, a senior vice president at New York’s Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency and director of its TrendSights division, which studies cultural changes and consumer habits. Consider these ads that focus on their firepower in the latest round of germ warfare:
* The Clorox Co., returning to a theme it used widely in the pre-antibiotic 1930s, advertises use of a bleach solution to avoid food poisoning. A recent ad slogan is: “Start you next meal with Clorox Bleach.”
* Dial Co., which introduced antibacterial liquid soap in 1988, now leads this growing segment of the soap market. Until five years ago, Dial resisted advertising the antibacterial virtues of its regular bar soap for fear that consumers might think it too harsh, says spokeswoman Nancy Kovel Dedera.
* Lever Brothers Co.’s Lever 2000 soap, which is available as a liquid hand soap, asks, “How do you clean up your germiest parts?”
The trend is in part a response to fear of AIDS and a need to feel immune from such invisible threats, says Gail Baker Woods, chairman of the advertising department at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
“Advertisers do a lot of psychological research. They’re reflecting what’s already out there,” she says.
Sniffing Out Food Allergies
Does food make you sick?
We’re not talking about a disdain for tofu, but a true allergic reaction to what you eat.
Food-sensitivity or food intolerance affects about 2% of the population, but it can make life miserable. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, cramping, itching, hives, eczema, redness of the skin and shortness of breath.
For a free brochure from the American Academy of Allergy & Immunology, send a self-addressed, stamped business-size envelope to “Understanding Food Allergy,” P.O. Box 1144, Rockville, Md. 20850.
Sit Up and Lean Back
Once upon a time, you were told to “sit up straight.” Heed that admonition today and you might not live happily ever after.
Studies in the past few years have shown the 90-degree trunk-to-thigh angle created by sitting straight up has been responsible for numerous cases of aches and pains. While slumping is still eschewed, some experts maintain that it’s OK to lean back or forward in our chairs. So go ahead. Relax.
This weekly health roundup, compiled from wire-service reports, appears in View on Tuesdays.
