BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids childfree, health, and advertising

Today I saw an advertisement on television about a local hospital. A couple was talking about making changes in their lives so that they wouldn't be suceptible to heart attack (someone they knew had one). Then the camera panned out to show children playing and the couple talked about their kids as "the perfect reason to look after our health."

I got annoyed by such a message. It's like saying those of us who choose not to have kids can treat our bodies like garbage, because *apparently* we have no one to live for or take care of. >:(

So, for those of you who are childfree, why do you look after your health and longevity?

I can tell you very honestly that I do it because I dislike pain. I avoid things like smoking, drinking (in excess), eating fatty foods, and I try to avoid stress. I try to get all my vitamins and vegetables, as well as plenty of exercise and time for recreation.

I have had a number of family members who died of cancer, and I do not want to follow in their footsteps. That illness is awful and I would never want to go through it.

I don't care about kids, I'd just like to grow old and happy, and die peacefully in my sleep when I am 90-100+.

Quality of life is a big issue too. All these people saying "who will take care of you when you get old"...well, with a little luck and diligent care of your body starting when you are young, you can avoid many debilitating diseases that would land you in a nursing home. Therefore, if you are careful and educated about health, you can take care of yourself when you get old.


Thoughts? Why do all you other childfree look after your health (or do you)? How do you think this hospital could have presented an advertisement that didn't exclude so many people? As it stands, the commercial implies that the health of all childfree, childless, teenagers, young adults or the elderly does not matter as much. It puts parents of young-ish kids on an unfair pedestal.

First of all, I'm a new mother. My daughter is 4 months old. I can see your side, as well as the side of those with parents. I guess, in a way I can understand how you could be offended. But, you did ask for thoughts so here are mine.

I can't imagine that of all of the people responsible for this ad had kids. It would be reasonable to say that there were people with no kids who put this ad together. I don't think they were offended by it. In fact, I don't think I would have been offended by it. You see all kinds of advertising that is similar, and you also see all kinds of advertising that is directed to people without children. As far as putting parents on a pedestal, I think that remark is unfair.

Not everything you're going to see on television, in a magazine or anywhere for that matter can conform to every "group" of people. Being offended by that is almost as ridiculous as being offended by online dating commercials. Do they put single people on an unfair pedestal? What about Viagra commercials, do they put men without ED on an unfair pedestal because they don't get to take a fancy prescription? I'm really not trying to be rude, although I'm sure you'll take it that way. My point really is that if such advertising affects you at all, it should be to think (seeing as you're concerned about health) that it's good these people finally have a reason for wanting to take care of themselves. Obviously not everyone has a reason or is worried about it. If that were the case we wouldn't have hospital commercials in the first place.

I see where Xantres is coming from. The message of that particular ad is targeted at parents, saying that their kids are a reason for worrying about their health, and it does kind of leave people without kids out in the cold. Parents are the target market of that ad, even though it is important for everyone to take care of themselves.

In my experience, I often see parents NOT taking the time to take care of their health. A few years ago, a friend of mine (who has two kids) got sick and nearly put herself in the hospital with pneumonia because she wouldn't take the time to go to the doctor or get enough rest (she was immersed in trying to put together the perfect Christmas for her kids, and wasn't listening to her body). I have often heard mothers saying "Oh, I don't have time to exercise, I have to do this this and this for my kids...I don't have time." Or they are constantly sick from taking care of their sick kids.

I'm not a health nut and could take better care of myself (I don't exercise enough, I know, and I could eat better). But I rarely get sick and have never had a serious medical problem (knock wood)!

Cindy

Let's face it, the advertisers are in this to make money -- and families spend big money which makes them a prime audience. They're just using a hot button to sell their product/service.



Really? Where? I don't mean to be snarky, I just truly can't remember the last ad I saw that said "Hey, if you don't have kids to worry about, spend your money on this!" Just because an ad doesn't feature kids/families doesn't automatically mean it's marketing to people without children.

Most recently I've seen ads promoting carribbean vacation packages and/or cruises as great entertainment for families with hard to please teens. I'm bombarded with ads for cereal and other food, vehicles, houses, restaurants, college savings plans, health/beauty products, etc. geared toward raising, caring for, protecting, transporting your "precious cargo" (isnt' that from a tire commercial?). That doesn't even include the ads for diapers, training pants, toys, etc. that are specific to having/raising kids. And yes, there are plenty of ads geared toward singles, empty nesters, etc. BUT, I can't think of one commercial I've seen promoting anything as "adults/DINK/MNK only" even from industries that would cater to them such as luxury housing, vehicles, vacactions, etc.

Look, I don't hate kids. I love my nieces/nephews. Truthfully, I don't even think about most of these ads.



Come on now. It's naive to think the reason hospitals advertise is because they want people to take care of themselves -- they are in it for money and in health care, we're talking about BIG bucks.

I can honestly see both sides of this issue. If you are a parent that is a good incentive to care for yourself becuase like it or not you need to take care of that child and you need to be around. Lots of people may be motivated by that. That is not to say that people without kids should not be taking just as much care with their heatlh, of course they should be. It would be nice if there were to seperate commercials. I think the hospital just wnats to make money and the fact is with a lot of commercials parents might spend more becuase kids are expensive so advertisers are gonna go were the money is. That said when I used to see the commercial with the walmart mom doing hte savings dance I wanted to puke nothing seems worse to me then pushing some kids around walmart and looking for cheap toys and then dancing with delight when you find them. The commercial didnt offend me though, it nust made me glad I didnt have kids. I think that was a pro childfree commercial becuase nothing looked more unfun and awful then that walmart mom.

I like that Staples ad that they put on in August... The music playing is "It's the most wonderful time of the year"... and the dad is buying back to school supplies for the bored/uninterested teen. The dad is having a great time and has a HUGE smile on his face. The parents are obviously looking forward to getting the kids out of their hair and back to school. If THAT isn't a pro childfree commercial, I don't know what is!

Regarding the hospital's commercial... the perfect reason to look after your health really is so that you don't have to suffer through a nasty illness.... but the hospital was obviously trying to appeal to the huge # of people out there with children - they figured it was a good target demographic. I wouldn't read too much into it. Also, they are kind of right... people with children often focus too much on their kids and forget to take care of themselves. Childfree people probably don't need to be reminded to look after their health... so I guess you could take it as a compliment to people without children - they are implying that people with kids need the hospital's services because they are neglecting themselves and are not healthy.
:-)

I heard an add on the radio today and thought of this thread. It was for a local car dealership. The woman said, "As a mother, I know how important safety is." I have to admit it did annoy me. I'm sure the advertiser did not intend to imply that safety isn't important to fathers or people without children, or that they are unaware of how important safety is, but that's what it felt like. They're obviously trying to appeal to mothers who wish to keep their children safe, but I'd like to keep myself safe. I'd like to keep anyone who's in the car with me safe. Everyone, not just mothers, knows that safety is important in a car.

I know I'm ranting. I'll stop.

Good points all around. I must apologize if I got a little huffy on my initial post. I didn't mean to anger anyone. Truthfully the ad bothered me for several reasons, mainly because it was so cheesy...it was like the 50's "american dream" stuff...a house in the suburbs, white picket fence, 2.5 kids and a dog. Ugh. (Even the ad music screamed "cheese".) It didn't represent the huge numbers of single parents, non-parents, non-whites (HUGE black and hispanic populations in my city), and non-suburbs (many, many apartments and condos in my city). It just felt so generic, xenophobic even. I brought up the childfree aspect of it here because I felt this was the appropriate place for it. But it is very true that not all ads will be inclusive of all groups, as alletsarret pointed out. (BTW, I don't think your comments were rude, alletsarret -- everyone is entitled to her opinion, and I'm glad that we have such a lively and intelligent discussion going on here!)

So "pedestal" was the wrong word. I suppose I meant less about pedestal and more about non-inclusion. Perhaps the hospital is a family hospital (as opposed to a general hospital). They didn't say anything about not allowing non-parents. It is true that many health services are tailored to certain groups...for instance, the existence of an OB-GYN is not "putting women on a pedestal," it's just a different health service.

It is very true that advertising = money. I worry about why a hospital would need to advertise in the first place. If the hospital is so great, doctors and nurses will be recommending it and it will have a great word-of-mouth reputation.

I don't think any particular demographic is more or less likely to look after their health. Here are some examples: my mother and grandmother are/were both health nuts. They both mastered nutritional and dental health; my grandmother was a nurse who kept up-to-date on all the screenings someone should get to stay healthy, and my mother is an athletic runner. I had a male teacher who took a vacation in the middle of the year to run a triathalon, and he was in his 40's. (A triathalon is impressive even for a youngun...someone middle-aged must take exquisite care of their health to manage this.)

On the flip side, my husband is childfree and he doesn't give a darn about his health. I have to nag him to get him to go to any kind of doctor. He smokes and eats all the wrong kinds of foods.

So I know both parents and childfree who both care about their health and don't care. It's a mixed thing.

I agree that people should go with whatever motivates them to take care of their health. For some people, the latest scientific research is a motivator; for others, doctor's orders. Still others respond to peer support (for instance, exercising with a buddy or group therapy for smoking cessation), and others respond to shock value (for example, the movie Supersize Me, or pictures of "your brain/body on drugs"). And then, some people respond to emotional pleas. "Wouldn't your friends/children/etc. miss you/need you if you were gone?" or "You don't want to be a burden to others if you get sick", et cetera. And lastly, some people are motivated by advertisements.


...I have seen the Staples commercial, and it is priceless...


And on credibility just by being a parent (the radio ad), all it takes to become a parent is to know a little bit about the birds and the bees. There is no inherent credibility there. Now if she said "mother of the year" or something, well sure. I might listen to that. As it stands, there are many examples of mothers proving there is no universal credibility just by having offspring. Just this week I heard about a case in my state, Indiana, where a toddler was found walking around on a busy highway. They went to arrest the mother, who had not reported the child missing, and they found appaling conditions in the home...

Don't get me wrong, there's lots of responsible parents out there, really and truly...you just need to be more specific than "mother" is all, because mother could mean ANY mother, good or bad...

I was desperately searching for the Staples ad you guys mentioned, but instead I found another funny one:

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Not only do advertisers ignore the childfree, but the media treats us like our lives are less valuable. How many times have you read headlines like these:

Mother of two missing for 3 days.

Mother of three wins award.

Mother of four dies in tragic accident.

Just last week there was a terrible accident here in my city. Two young men were killed instantly, but the media just briefly mentioned that because all they could talk about was this PREGNANT women in the other car who got a little scratched up, but she was OK. They mentioned the fact that she was pregnant 3 times in that short story. I counted.

I think society puts more value on a persons life if they are a parent.