Shiny Sud's Video

I finally got around to watching the Shiny Sud’s video and I got to say, I think it went a little over the line. I can see what Method was trying to show. I understand that we don’t necessarily know what chemicals our cleaners leave behind. By making the Sud’s “stalker-ish” it gets across the message that not all cleaners are safe; that is definitely clear. That being said, I can see where people might be offended by this. Method could have provided this message in a different way. Show that the suds never leave, but they do not have to show them when the women takes a shower, you know?

“All publicity is good publicity”. I feel that this saying is completely true in this case. Some people will find this video funny and some will find it offensive. When Method Co-Founder Eric Ryan said the journey “has been really fun”, he must be trying to put a positive spin on the situation. He stated how he received “some negative responses to the video but overall it was pretty positive”. Who did he test the video on? Men? Women? Both? Out of most of the women in our class, the majority found the video offensive; I don’t see that changing outside the class. I didn’t personally find it offensive, but I definitely see where women would. Also, I feel our society has made videos like this acceptable. We air offensive, violent, and raunchy videos on television and the internet all the time. It should be no surprise when a company comes up with a video like this and we should not be surprised at the content (not necessarily the message) it carries. I don’t feel it’s right, but I see why they can “get away with it”.

I do feel the video was irresponsible marketing. They knew what they were doing by releasing the video and they must have felt that the response, good or bad, would be positive to the company. It probably has made a lot of people look deeper into Method; to see what their mission is and to research their products. In that sense, the video was successful. As to the offensive content, I feel it was irresponsible. What do you think? Was releasing the video out of line? Do people have the right to be offended?