Advertising methods used by hair loss companies
Recently I was listening to one of my favourite radio stations here in the UK, Talksport, and heard an advert by Regaine (a popular male pattern baldness treatment) in one of the commercial breaks. I was surprised and actually quite annoyed by the less than ethical methods used during the commercial. For those of you that haven’t heard it already it goes something like this.
The advert starts with a very masculine deep voice talking about how fantastic it is to have great hair but over the course of a few seconds the voice gradually morphs into a much higher and puny sounding voice stating that when you start to lose your hair you can , well, lose your mojo. If you watch “The Green Wing” (If not why not!) then the weedy voice sounds exactly Dr. Alan Statham (seen below).
Now we already know that one of the main things that male pattern baldness effects is self esteem and for many men, losing their mojo is an understatement. This is a major emotional trigger for those affected by hair loss and I find the way in which the commercial was written to be cynical and exploitative to say the least. Surely companies can find a better way of advertising hair loss products without resorting to such tactics. If I was affected by male pattern baldness and was interested in doing something about it I’d be wanting to hear about the benefits and price of such items, not how it makes me feel less of a man. Honestly!
Now I have nothing against Regaine or its products and I understand that as a hair loss remedy its fairly decent. I also accept that companies are in this sector to make as much money as possible and that’s just the nature of being competitive in our capitalist market. However I do feel a company as well placed as Regaine could have employed a better, less sleazy way to promote its product.
Any man suffering from male pattern baldness shouldn’t be made to feel worse then they already do and companies such as Regaine would do well to stay clear of such advertising methods. I sincerely doubt it would affect their bottom line compared to other sales methods. Men should also learn to celebrate their bald look and try and focus on who they are inside. If as a guy, you feel that your self esteem is lower as a result of a receding hair line then why not focus on building your self esteem instead. It is after all far more important than how many hairs you have on your head and I doubt that someone like Bruce Willis has many self esteem issues. I’ve talked to many women about how attractive they find men and the bald look is more popular than you think so don’t panic into thinking its the end of you being an attractive male.
Now I don’t have anything at all against trying hair loss remedies but I would stress that taking a balanced approach to how you see yourself sans hair, so to speak, is a far more positive way to deal with hair loss. Certainly don’t get sucked into adverts like the one I’ve talked about here, as not having hair has nothing to do with being a positive and healthy male role model.
Add comment July 13th, 2007