Truth in Advertising
It wasn’t very long ago that I stared dumbfounded at a pack of soap being sold in Romania. Once again, the English language was used heavily in all the marketing areas because that’s the cool way to promote your wares these days. Our German friends, Schwartzkopf & Henkel, have a factory in Poland where they manufacture some bar soap under the sexy Fa brand that is sold to Romanians.
Now, this particular box touted some benefits I’d never seen marketers have the gall to hype before. Yessir, there it was plain as day: water plant extract. It even had the ever-popular swoosh from last decade to help elevate its hipness is the lagged preception of the Romanian consumer. Yeehaw, baby.
And what was really special about it was the illustration of the water plant itself! Encased in a protective bubble to demonstrate just how precious it should seem to your fragile, associative psyche. The throbbingly green color of the leaves were just oozing with photosynthical youthful vigor and vital growth. Bursting forth — unable to be contained — are cascading sheets of life-giving juices, spread apart in a glorious arc as if to enrich every part of you in water.
I mean, that’s what they’re talking about right? Water plant extract. What do you extract from such a plant, if not water? Why, water, of course. They went to great lengths to design this packaging so that you’ll part with your money in order to get some soap with water.
Water.
Meh. At least they weren’t lying.
August 18th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
Fa sucks, Protex all day every day
August 18th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
… I think water is a pretty common ingredient, even in bar soaps.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:38 pm
volker – Welcome to the show! I’ve no argument against water being used. In fact, the whole concept of virtual water is quite interesting.
But the concept of promoting a soap based on water plant extract is laughable.
August 19th, 2006 at 12:26 am
What the poor idiots tried to say is that they use algae. In this case, Fucus Vesiculosus. I cannot forgive them though for proudly advertising a few years ago a shower gel with “hydroxy complex!” (read – H2O).Now THAT was water.
August 19th, 2006 at 12:35 am
Great! Now, they’re using dirty, algae-ridden water. Just wonderful.
Fucus Vesiculosus, aka bladderwrack, is used for goiters and obesity. And here I thought animal fat was disturbing…
I’ve known a lot of poor people who sometimes turn their regular shampoo into Hydroxy Complex to make it last a bit longer. Heh. Lemme guess, though — in this case the stuff was being sold at a premium price!
August 19th, 2006 at 8:09 pm
Romerican, thanks for the welcome … your blog has been the most valuable resource of information to me.
About water as an ingredient … I’m sure you’re aware of that classic, aye?
–> http://www.dhmo.org/
August 21st, 2006 at 7:29 pm
volker – Wow! I am glad you turned me on to that link; I can’t believe I’ve been in the dark about Dihydrogen Monoxide for so long. Clearly, that website is an invaluable resource for waking up public health officials. I think the US EAC should start an online petition to ban DHMOs as a viral marketing method for grassroots direct action. Our very lives could be at stake!
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:33 am
Thanks for the info. The water ingredient looked to be the most harmless ingredient. Cute logo for the water plant extract. Ooooh sodium tallowate and tallow acid. Me thinks the parfum covers up the animal fat smell. And what in the world is fucus vesiculosis? Sounds like a disease that you can catch in unsavory place. BHT and talc are kind of nasty too. This is a popular soap?…..heyyyyyyyyyy, does that stuff make your skin peel off??????
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:56 pm
Please, please don’t say bad things about “Fa”. When I was a little girl in comunist times we used to place the soap between our clothes for better smell. No dryer sheets, or other options…
I still like the white scent. Brings back memories.