You are reading this column online, and much like most of the news, entertainment and communication you’ll consume today, you’ll need your phone, tablet or computer to do it. Terrestrial TV, print newspapers, radios and physical letters are still in business, but we’ve come a long way since the days in which a house had one […]
Avez-vous déjà acheté quelque chose à cause de l’image d’une marque ? Certainement, surtout lorsque l’emballage est très voyant et séduisant. Si nous devions nier que nous répondons à de bonnes publicités, nous pourrions tout aussi bien condamner des millions de départements marketing à l’obscurité, car quelle valeur a le marketing dans un monde d’engourdis. […]
Brands are flashy, but they aren’t malicious Have you ever bought something because of the branding? Surely you have, especially when the packaging is very flashy and enticing. If we were to deny that we respond to good ads we might as well condemn millions of marketing departments to obscurity, because what value does marketing […]
This week I launched the ConsEUmer podcast, the European podcast of the Consumer Choice Center. Broadcasting every Thursday, wherever you listen to podcasts. I will be updating you on the latest consumer choice issues in the EU and its member states, and will also host a weekly guest. This week with Yaël Ossowski, on targeted […]
Global health advocates do not have their priorities straight, argues Bill Wirtz With the recent news that has revealed the structural deficiencies of the World Health Organisation (WHO), one would believe the UN’s global health body would be interested in laying low on other issues that would make it unpopular. However, in some strange death wish, […]
While the world is battling the Coronavirus crisis, the European Alcohol Policy Alliance (EUROCARE) is facing a different goliath: alcohol sponsorship… in sports? A head-scratcher of sorts, especially given that the sports industry will fall on hard times this year if COVID-19 drags on. With cancelled events and games, cutting the sports industry off from […]
The Lancet’s new “A Future for the World’s Children?” report is once again some heavy nanny-stating. But this time, it goes right into real-life parody. The once well respected, but increasingly loony Lancet has in recent years endorse some of the harshest Nanny State policies around. From advertising restrictions to taxation of sugary drinks, the […]
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is enforcing new rules regarding gender stereotypes. Here’s my verdict.
We have come along way in the evolution of the advertising business. The Egyptians used papyrus to make sales messages and wall posters, while the Middle Ages made us transition to town criers and billboards. But even trademarks are much older than many would think – the first trademark dates back to 1300 BC in what is […]
Was wird auf Straßenplakaten heutzutage beworben? Limonade, Schokolade, Lebensversicherungen, Bankkonten, Medikamente, Bier, Autos. Wer falsch mit diesen Produkten umgeht kann sich selbst oder sein Vermögen in Gefahr bringen. Aus diesem Grund werden Alternativen, die mehr Sicherheit bieten ebenfalls beworben: Limonade ohne Zucker, fettarme Schokolade, Versicherungsvergleichportale, Anwälte, die bei Klagen gegen Banken helfen, alkoholfreies Bier, oder […]
Bill Wirtz 