A few years ago there was a radio commercial that opened by asking "Are you concerned about your cat's urinary tract health?"-- I found the ad rather off-putting, I mean I don't own a cat and even if I did I doubt I'd even consider let alone be concerned about its urinary tract health (unless the cat had given me cause for concern of course).
Furthermore, the ad made me a bit paranoid-- SHOULD I be concerned about the urinary tract health of cats in general? I'm not generally a cat person, but I don't necessarily wish them ill will either-- for those that do own cats, I do sincerely hope that their urinary tracts are indeed healthy (the cats and the people who own them, for that matter)-- and for those whose urinary tracts aren't doing so well-- I thought to myself, don't doctors recommend cranberry juice for people suffering UTIs? Why not just give Fluffy a spot of Ocean Spray with her next helping of Fancy Feast or 9 Lives?
I mean, if it's good enough for humans, it should be good enough for Persians, Siamese, Himalayans, Tabbies, and etc., right? And that does bring me to me next question, are YOU concerned about the urinary tract health of cats?
Now, this brings me around to another line of reasoning-- if this ad was able to get ME, a person who has never owned a cat, concerned about their urinary tract health it was indeed quite effective. Thus such a campaign should be duplicated to cover issues which affect more than just cats and their owners-- the War in Iraq, the wastefulness and general corruption of the US Congress, the pitching rotation of the NY Mets, the price of tea in China, and the urinary tract health of dogs/ferrets/hamsters/goldfish and other household pets. The possibilities are limitless!
The trouble is, if that were to happen such an ad campaign would totally lose its effectiveness. Much like how all car commercials seem to be identitical in their claims of vast superiority over rival brands and are chocked full of superlative adjectives-- all such ads would start to sound alike and the collective conciousness of the target demographic would just tune these ads out much like it already does with said automobile commercials. So, such an advertising campaign should be saved for really important issues to preserve the overall effectiveness of the campaign.
And now, I look back on this entry and realize-- that this entire post was inspired by a 3 or 4 year old radio commercial for medication that helps heal urinary tract infections in CATS! And I STILL don't even own a cat...
Thursday, June 08, 2006
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9 comments:
It will probably come as no surprise to you to find out that I am, indeed, concerned about the urinary tract health of my cats. :)
Incidentally, cats tend to be *very* prone to UTI's and when a cat stops using his/her litterbox, that's usually the first sign that s/he has one.
:D
Like Ms V said, it's VERY common for cats, especially older ones, to develop urinary tract issues. I never knew it until I became a cat owner myself... And as a side note, for some reason urinary issues are far more common in male cats than in female ones. Kidney failure and urinary problems are one of the most common killers of housecats. That';s what my poor old cat died from, after being diagnosed three years earlier. :(
I am a dog person. I'm so glad dogs don't have urinary tracts.
I'd never thought of my cats' urinary tracts.
And we have an even better ad up here - friendly people passing around a beautiful perfume bottle. A closeup shows that the bottle says 'Herpes'. Commercials are getting better.
:)
Dickey: That commercial sounds GREAT. I love when advertising actually gives the public credit for having a brain.
As other commenters have noted, if you did have a cat, you would be very aware of UTI. Not only can it kill, it is $$$$$$ to fix. That must drive you crazy that that's the commercial stuck in your brain.
Perplex, only you could use this subject for a blog post and get away with it!
You've certainly got one up on me. I have never been inspired to post by a radio adl for UTI medication for cats.
And surely I never will!
-- david
Barbara: So I DID get away with it? ;-) YAY!
Leazwell: Be sure to keep your cat away from those ne'er do well catnip dealers as well! There are some Tabbies that hang out on the street corners in some of the more unsavory neighborhoods out there just looking to deal some 'nip.
David: Did you miss my other post awhile back about being happy about the low risk of sexual side effects in certain anti-depressants?
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