Sunday, December 11, 2005

Pharmaceutical ads for 7-year-olds.. only on ABC Family*!

Is it just me, or does it seem wrong to advertise pharmaceuticals during TV-Y7 shows? Are they really trying to market to 7-year-olds?

My son was watching Power Rangers SPD this morning on ABC Family channel, and I noticed a commerical for some kind of depression drug.

At least it wasn't a genital herpes or erectile dysfunction drug commercial, but it still seemed out of place among the video game, toy, and junk food commercials.

(* = probably not *ONLY* on ABC Family)

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Not for use with antibacterial soap

Why do some soap dispensers say "Not for use with antibacterial soap"? What happens if you use antibacterial soap in them?

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Some companies I'm avoiding due to excessive amounts of spam

Some companies I'm avoiding due to excessive amounts of spam:

Costume Express, Storybook Heirlooms, Birthday Express (These 3 seem related. Not sure how I got on their list, but repeated attempts to be removed have been futile)

Another one is Freeze Media (www.freeze.com). I downloaded a "free" screensaver, trying to find a fun one for my kids. I should have read their privacy policy, though, because on closer inspection, they explicitly say that they will share your info with whoever they happen to have any business relationship with at any given time. Hey, at least they HAVE a privacy policy, and are honest about it. I'll give them a little credit for that.

Anyway, I received ridiculous amounts of spam from them and/or their affiliated companies, and could not make it stop. I don't have the spam laying around anymore, but I remember looking for any way to make it stop, and could either find no unsubscription info, or it did not work when I tried it. I also couldn't figure out why I was getting mail from them in the first place, but today they sent me an email that explained to me that I downloaded their "Living 3D Dolphins" screensaver on 01/22/2005. So, 9.5 months later, I finally know how I got on their lists, and can avoid dealing with them in the future (and hopefully help others to avoid them as well).

I'll probably add comments to this post in the future, as additional identifyable companies spam me and won't stop. Most spam does not fall in these categories, but at least we can try to avoid this type of spam by avoiding the companies.