Do you buy based on ads?

I can't believe it has been so long since I have blogged. Too much has happened since April, and blogging was the last thing I needed to do. Unfortunately, we lost Grandma in September to Breast Cancer. Grandma (aka my wonderful Mother-in-Law of 30 years) had a Mastectomy in April, and was undergoing low dose chemo when tumors grew on her spine.

Don't talk to me about Health Care unless you want to see steam come out my ears!

What's up with all the T.V. ads for drugs? I mean Pharmaceuticals, of course! Since around February, 2009, I have been noticing a change in T.V. ads. How many people are taking drugs for their Liver, Prostate and ED to name a few that allows Pharmaceutical Companies to make money buying T.V. ads? I mean, these drugs can't be bought over the counter. People need to see the ad on T.V., then either make an appt. with their Doctor, or wait until their shortly thereafter regularly scheduled Doctor appt., and specifically ask their Doctor for that particular drug. How many people visit their Doctor on a regular basis? I know that Grandma was visiting the Doctor (several Doctors in fact) every week almost since April, but unless you are currently being treated for a life-threatening disease, why would you visit your Doctor regularly enough to request some of the drugs being advertised on T.V.?

This thought process then led me to think about advertising in general. I mean, do you actually brush your teeth with Colgate Total because Brooke Shields claims to on T.V.? Would you join Jenny Craig because of the success of Valerie Bertinelli, or stay away from Jenny Craig because of the lack of long term success of Kirstie Alley? (I worked for Jenny Craig for about six years right after I left college, but that is another story . . . )

Luckily MommyLoves has had to do very little advertising to stay in business and grow. We have purchase three half page ads in pregnancy related magazines in our nearly seven years in business, and we're still kickin'. These ads were directly targeted for specific holidays to promote our holiday maternity designs. Our growth and popularity long term rely not on advertising, but on networking and marketing. I would trust my girlfriend's recommendations over Brooke Shields' any day, and millions of women agree with me! Hence the popularity of blogging, which is another way MommyLoves has grown. Satisfied customers blogging about our products.

Why then do companies advertise?

Do you buy based on ads?

I will listen to an ad only if I see a new product or service that interests me. I won't buy it based on the advertising, I will ask around and do some research first. So, I guess advertising is profitable for a company when they release a new product or service? So, I guess we come back to the drugs. Are there that many people taking prescription drugs that the Pharmaceutical Companies need to compete with general market ads? More importantly, are all those people driving? I hope they aren't driving while on Viagra or Cialis . . . that could be dangerous.