Email makes it easy to complain. Too easy. I find people will literally complain about anything they see online.
Recently, True ran a few paid ads for an inkjet refill company. In the last week I got several complaints about those ads.
Because the ink was bad? No, people seem to like the product. It was the wording in the ads that caused the complaints:
I want to comment on the implied bigotry in the ad. “Your Christian source for ink/toner” implies that being Christian is somehow superior, and it follows that non-Christians are inferior. They’re entitled to think that, of course. Most people believe that their beliefs are superior to those of others. But that has nothing to do with their product or their service. To include it in their ad says that they think we should do business with them because of their religion, and that smacks of bigotry. I will make it a point to avoid this company and any others that advertise this way. –Isaac in AOLville
Isaac isn’t a lone nut. James, who also didn’t say where he’s located, jumped in with:
I have enjoyed your service, but I am unwilling to support the [inkjet] ad and will unsubscribe. I am not willing to encourage the promotion of the Christian faith. Even if I were, I would find the ad offensive because of its undoubtedly incorrect implication that other ink suppliers are not Christian. Not only is this attempt to take business away from other Christians in this manner not a Christian act, but this public flaunting of faith, especially for commercial purposes, is opposed to the teachings of Jesus as I understand them.
And these two weren’t the only ones.
Let Me See If I’ve Got This Right
If an advertiser says they’re “the source for high-quality widgets,” what they’re really saying is that everyone else that sells widgets is trying to pawn off low-quality widgets?
Or if they say they’re a “family-owned” company they’re really right-wing polygamists trying preach that people who don’t have children are evil?
Get a grip, people! Repeat after me: They’re ads. The companies pay for their space, and I let them choose their own wording.
Every now and then, readers object to certain ads. As a matter of policy, I already reject all advertisements for “adult” (porn) sites/services, alcohol and tobacco products, gambling, and any service or product which is illegal in the United States.
This does impact True quite a bit; I obviously need to sell ads in order to make it possible to give away free entertainment to a such a huge worldwide audience, but I feel I must draw the line somewhere. Beyond that, I give advertisers a pretty free rein.
It is, in other words, up to advertisers to decide how they want to be perceived through their ads. If you don’t like the way an advertiser comes across, here’s my recommendation: don’t buy the product or service advertised! If you do like the ad, or think you might want or need the product or service, then click through to get more details. This isn’t rocket science, folks.
And some people wonder why I shrug off the incessant whining criticism of ads that have a bit of controversy to them? Dotcoms are falling like flies at my feet, yet I’m able to keep my ad slots mostly full lately — the dotcoms that are left need to remind people that not all of the companies that sell online are dead. (Some of us are actually thriving, in fact.)
Bottom line, anyone who really thinks I’m going to turn down a paid ad because the company’s owner is proud of his faith just reminds me of one thing: the world is never, ever going to run out of stupid people for me to write about!
Update
No matter what, there is always someone out there who wants to be offended. I lamented above that it was too easy to complain by email and concluded that, in the current dotcom meltdown environment, “anyone who really thinks I’m going to turn down a paid ad because the company’s owner is proud of his faith just reminds me of one thing: the world is never, EVER going to run out of stupid people for me to write about!”
You would not believe how many people emailed to complain that I “called them stupid.”
Why Is It that when I talk about my readers being “the cream of the crop,” “terrific,” “intelligent,” etc. these people assume I’m not talking about them, but if I say “if you meet this terribly narrow condition [which they don’t], you must be stupid” they assume I must be talking about them personally?
Perhaps people are getting convinced that they need to be “victims.” Perhaps they’re …well… stupid. I don’t know.
Luckily, most of my readers “got it.” (The more intelligent ones, I suppose!) Some of the better letters include Dan in Kansas:
I wonder if the people who complain about your ads go through Time, Newsweek, Martha Stewart Living, Sports Illustrated, or Reader’s Digest with the same vigilance? If I dropped subscriptions to magazines that carried ads that I found distasteful, I’d just be reading the backs of cereal boxes. (Only the right cereal boxes of course.)
That’s what I meant when I said email makes it too easy to complain. Why not hit “reply” and complain to the messenger rather than take ALL THAT TIME to click through to the site, find the advertiser’s contact address, and complain to them?
Because it’s not worth their time. So why should it be worth my time to read their whining?
Why shouldn’t I let advertisers let their attitudes and policies shine through so you can make your own decision as to whether you want to do business with them? Several asked if I would accept an ad that identifies themselves as, say, “your source for kosher foods”? Of course! “Your atheist book source”? Yep.
Make Up Your Minds
When I took on the Archdiocese of Vancouver for smiling at the murder of an abortion doctor, some readers called me “anti-Christian.” When I wrote about feng shui, several called me “anti-Christian” — and one proclaimed I was going to hell. (And when I responded to that with my Get Out of Hell Free cards, I was told that I was “making fun of Christians”.)
When I defended some Muslims against blatant Christian bigotry, I was (you guessed it!) derided as “anti-Christian.” And when I defend a company who wants to identify themselves as Christian, I’m attacked yet again.
Clue: I think people should, within reason, say the things they want to say, and if those things are stupid and open them up to ridicule, they should be ridiculed. That’s pretty much what True does every week.
I don’t personally think such “affiliation” tags are productive in advertising, but the advertiser didn’t ask me about it. However, if you think an advertiser deserves ridicule for identifying themselves as “Christian” (or “atheist” or “kosher”) fine! Go at them! At them, not me — I didn’t write the ad.
Last, a few like Jerry in California wondered:
How come you didn’t point out to the people complaining about ads that the Premium version of True doesn’t have ads? Seems to me you missed a fantastic opportunity to cash in on those complainers!
I of course did think of that, but I was talking about policies, not trying to “cash in.” Sometimes things need to be said without having an underlying marketing message, and this was one of those times.
Details about the Premium upgrades is included in every issue anyway, so I didn’t really see the point in flogging upgrades in the author’s notes at this time. Too, as Vicki in Illinois pointed out, had I done so people would have complained — “since the word ‘Premium’ implies that this subscription is superior to all other subscriptions.” Well, Vicki, that is true…! 🙂
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Excuse me, but isn’t every ad designed to make you think that something about the product or service is superior to others in the same field?
I have to admit that I agree almost completely with [the people who complained]. When I see ads like that, I tend to just skip to the next section. In my case, I’m actually interested in ink/toner products. And I won’t check out that site. Not because I’m not Christian, or don’t support them. But because I don’t see the relevance. What does Christianity have to do with ink?
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Nothing. Don’t worry, I did get the point of the complainers. My point was that people who don’t like an ad have several choices: 1) Roll their eyes and skip the ad, like you did — and like most people do when they don’t like an advertiser’s approach, whether it’s in True, on TV, or in print. 2) Complain to the advertiser — especially if they feel strongly about the issue. Or, what I was ranting about, the stupid choice: 3) Complain to the publication. -rc
Well, I don’t appreciate ads for products that specify the religion of the advertiser. I think that the message is that the customers should favor that seller over others for reasons other than product quality. While I don’t really object to the ads — we all (usually) have the right to publish as we see fit — I figure that if a business needs to rely on such a non-sequitor, the product or service must not be good enough to stand on its own. So I don’t buy from folks who call themselves Christian sources, or publish fish symbols.
I also can’t think of any religion other than Christianty whose adherants run such ads. Nobody ever runs an ad saying that they are Jewish or Muslim and that they somehow deserve more business because of it.
Perhaps this is because there is an implied synonym in “Christian” for “Good.” After all, we hear such phrases as “it’s the Christian thing to do.”
I suppose it’s good to be proud of what you are. But there’s an underlying message to those who do not believe as these posters do, which leads me to take my business elsewhere.
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And to be sure, that’s fine with me. It’s up to the advertiser to decide how s/he wants to come across, and then up to you to decide whether to do business with them. Criticizing a publication for running the ad the way the advertiser specifies is the ridiculous part. -rc
It IS very annoying to see people using Christianity to sell things. Cheesy and bigoted. Yes, I can understand a complaint or two…but to unsubscribe over one ad??
In a publication whose very reason for existing is to make fun of bigots and hypocrites in every single issue? Hmmm. Somebody’s undies are just a tiny bit too tight!
It is interesting to read this today as just yesterday I ordered some new personal checks from a company that advertises itself as “Christian.” I must admit, I hesitated to order from them because wearing one’s religion on one’s sleeve for commercial purposes is something I find a bit questionable. I recall quite a few scams that used their “Christianity” to dupe sincerely religious folks. I know it’s not their intent, but any business that puts their “Christian” identity up front raises my scam sensor levels a bit.
In the end, their prices and their policy of selling re-orders at the same price as initial orders seemed a good deal, and even though many of their check designs featured religious images and/or bible quotations, they also had plain checks without those.
Finally, I see no problem with accepting advertisements from such a company. I’m sure most of them are perfectly sincere and legitimate. I can be an overly suspicious curmudgeon sometimes.
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I find that the biggest mistakes I make are when I don’t listen to my intuition. It’s hard to blame someone else when you say “I knew it!” While I didn’t have that feeling about the particular advertiser in question, I have had the feeling you describe, and I’ve learned to listen to it…. -rc
How do you know if a firm is Christian or not? It’s not enough that it says so, it might be cheating you. Think of all those Nigerian scam variants where some “widow of a deceased God’s servant” wants to give you or your church money if you help them. ;o)
If I need ink, I buy it where the quality and price co-ordinate the best, not from a so called Christian firm, just because it calls itself that. If two firms sell good quality ink for the same (or almost same) price and I happen to know that the owner of one of them is a Christian, I might buy from that firm.
While looking through my husband’s 1979 high school year book, I noticed an advertisement in the back selling used tires. The largest words were “We Love Jesus”.
Personally, I always thought it was a little fishy to imply that “because we love Jesus, you’ll prefer our product”, no matter how well or poorly made it is. Sorry, but Christian or not, I’m just not that gullible. Show me the bottom line, the percentages, and Consumer Reports, thank you very much.
My favorite play on this tactic, though, was a company that proclaimed “Jesus Saves. We Recycle!”
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“Fishy.” Heh heh heh! -rc
I’ve still got my free subscription (I’m afraid I might miss something good) and I have to admit, I just don’t see any ads. Oh, I know they’re there, but I don’t notice them. (Don’t let that get back to the advertisers, of course.) Same thing when watching a TV program; my wife will comment on a commercial and I have no idea what she’s talking about. I’m like a TIVO, I guess, and tune out when the commercials come on, and tune back in with the program.
Sorry, it just seems to me that people who get upset about ads for products/services that they personally dislike are the same people that will chase you for two miles for making a right turn on red when there was a sign saying not to.
ummm, personally, I LIKE to know where an advertiser is coming from! As a Christian, if I want to look at books, I’d sure like to know ahead of time if the ad if from an “ateist book-seller”! And if I were an Atheist, I’d sure like to know the ad is from a Christian book-seller! But – as the poster before me, in all actuality, I rarely even notice the ads.
And as someone posted elsewhere, I would sure like to upgrade – but……… applying for SS because I’ve been unemployed for 2 1/2 years – ran out of unemployment in Sep10, my babysitting income just won’t allow for even that small amount. Soooo sorry.
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No apology needed. I’m glad there’s an option that works for you. -rc
Back when I was a kid, the car ads in the Sunday newspaper often featured photos of a shapely young (and always white) female model in a bikini leaning on the hood of a car. That was just how the car dealerships attracted attention to their products.
Eventually the newspapers started banning such ads, because the models really had no relationship to the product being sold. Yes, people who were offended or felt excluded could have simply skipped those ads and patronized other dealers, but the newspapers decided that the ads were not appropriate.
A lot of people feel the same way about business ads that talk about being proud Christians. Am I a less valued consumer because I am NOT a Christian? Am I a less valued American? There are so many voices in 2024 saying that white Christians are the only “real Americans” that I feel uncomfortable when people proudly put their facade of Christianity in display for the world to admire.
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And here, more than 20 years later, so do I! I’d immediately wonder, “‘Real’ Christians, who are Christ-like? Or ‘CINOs’ who use their religion to ‘lord’ themselves over others?” It’s sadly a valid question, and not too many act like the former anymore. -rc