“Would you allow your wife to buy this?” Is it a load of old tosh?

We are looking at quotes that have been attributed to David Ogilvy as topics to prompt discussion. All the quotes were found online amongst a plethora of others which makes me wonder what makes a person’s opinion worthy of becoming quotable. Here is one that I find quite contentious; it is obviously dated but is it really a quotable opinion? Here it is – “It is flagrantly dishonest for an advertising agent to urge consumers to buy a product which he would not allow his own wife to buy.”

 You can look at this in a few ways – at face value; to think, “What a control freak”, to be annoyed at the assumption that all advertising agents are male; to assume that if you don’t happen to have a wife, then who gives a toss what you urge consumers to buy? I cannot say that I am altogether in agreement with Ogilvy’s sentiments. I would be quite happy to let our products be used to advertise many things that I wouldn’t necessarily expect my wife to buy just because an ad was persuasive. Examples of stuff that I wouldn’t necessarily want kath to buy might include cosmetic surgery, body piercing and body marking, football boots or a lawn mower – (particularly as our back garden is terraced and flagged!)

 Whilst we are not an ad agency, we do keep a close eye on the content submitted for print on our products as would any publisher. However, I would be perfectly happy to receive artwork advertising a reputable Tattoo and Body Piercing Business. You might expect the advertiser to choose one of our more active and unusual products to promote the service – maybe a Flicker Card.

 Another example that I mentioned earlier was Cosmetic Surgery. I would have no qualms about accepting artwork publicizing a qualified and reputable practice, though my tongue is firmly in my cheek when I suggest one of our “before and after” products such as a cover dissolver where the first picture shows someone with a big conk and the second picture shows the same person with a perfectly formed hooter! And whilst my tongue is in my cheek, what about those football boots? Whilst I don’t think that Kath will make the Waddington FC “A” team, I reckon that a Jumpinjax would be ideal as an advertising product showing a top pair of Adidas boots kicking out the little football cubes.