Procter & Gamble pulls Clairol shampoo commercial and apologizes to nurses
June 11, 2003 -- As a result of protests from nurses, Procter & Gamble promised on June 9 to stop running a Clairol Herbal Essences television commercial that showed a female nurse leave her patient unmonitored to wash her hair in his bathroom, then dance around his room, waving her hair in ecstasy....more
Good because when I first saw that commercial I was so enraged:( I keep saying to my hubby I hate when nurses are portrayed like that. He said to lighten up, but sometimes others just don't understand. I am glad it's gone. I wondered why I hadn't seen it for awhile, b/c I would go off everytime I saw it. Laura LPN
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Ya know your husband does not get it. But so many outside nursing don't......"lightening up" is what keeps nursing in the position it is in today. I admire those taking a stand to advocate for our profession and the public relations side of it. GOOD FOR YOU!
Someone sent me this message about a new Clairol commercial. Can anyone give me any more details?
"There is a patient in a room who, this time, is not hooked up to any monitors so there is no indication that this is someone who needs close observation. There are two nurses in the room meaning that one could watch the patient while the other one uses the patient's shampoo to wash her hair in his bathroom. The patient is sleeping. One nurse says to
the other, "Oh, it looks like that sleeping pill I gave him is really working." This gives her the green light to steal his shampoo and go take care of her hair leaving the other in charge of the patient. "
If anyone has seen it, could you please send me a videotape of it? I will be happy to pay you for the postage and the tape--just please check with me first to make sure no one else has already sent it to me. Thank you,
I agree with all of you that the commercial is insulting to nurses, aides and women in general. My 6 yo son asked me why the woman was making such strange noises. The orgasmic experience is what bothers me the most. I have not bought Clairol products since I have seen the first commercials.
I received an email from my contact at P&G today, re: the Clairol commercials that persist on the airwaves. Here's what she said:
"I have confirmed that we have discontinued all US advertising buys; however, as discussed earlier, there may still be a few situations where ads will continue to show up, as a result of syndicated ad buys. These buys have longer lead time, and thus there's a time lag in both the start and stop dates for the ads. I've also checked on the Canadian advertising, and believe they too are in the process of pulling this advertising; I am in the process of confirming this."
So--please continue to post here where and when you see the Clairol commercial so that I can continue to follow up with P&G. Thank you!
Personally I don't see what the hoopla is all about. Corporations are only in it for the money! We all know that nurses arent like that but people still stereo type rather they run the ad or not. You can't please everyone no matter what marketing tries to do you are going to offend some people. Just don't by the product. I don't purchase Mary Kay because they use animal testing and if the cosmetic were on TV I am not stressing because I can controlwhat I want to buy, wear and shop.
The hoopla is all about--nurses must start to have a say in how the media portrays their image. Every time we allow a company or a television show to portray us as sex objects or neglectfully malevolent or angels or handmaidens, this wrongheaded idea of who we are sticks in the head of the average member of the public. And when the portrayal is bad, people lose respect for our profession and decide that they don't want to become a nurse, that they don't think it's a profession worthy enough to encourage their kids to join and hence--we have a grave nursing shortage!
So as soon as we start taking control of our image, we can educate the public that nursing is a great, rewarding profession that takes education and great talent to do well and you can pursue it to the highest levels of academia. Only then will we be able to recruit the best and the brightest to our profession and make it the most coveted health profession. If we don't start taking control of our media image, our profession will surely perish.
I'm with you. There are stereotypical labels with most professions, but I doubt these are an influence as to why people choose a certain profession. If that were the case who would want to enter the field of computer technology if they were going to be labeled a "geek"? I don't hear of the admissions to law school dwindling because lawyers are called "sharks". I think nurses are portrayed as sex objects because they are still predominantly female and not because they are nurses. Firemen are considered "manly" in a way that would probably make a gay fireman roll his eyes.
It is not the poor stereotype that turns people away from nursing. I think that is more related to the poor working conditions, low pay and more tangible factors such as those.
....I know we have had many threads about sexism and that many people dont see this as a problem in nursing. I believe many dont see it because its so insidious.
Well this commercial is blantantly sexist and doubly demeaning to our profession.
Laura LPN
renerian, BSN, RN
5,693 Posts
Sorry if my first post to this thread was harsh. I was in a crabby mood..........LOL..
renerian