22/07/2013

Monday July 22^nd 2013 was a pretty good day for me. Not only was it my birthday, but clever K-Mids and Baby-Cambridge (literally just announced to be called George) decided to reinforce the fact that it’s an excellent day for birthing. Congratulations Kate and Wills! I will now share my birthday with the future King of England*!

Their emergence from the hospital yesterday evening was pretty cute and they did indeed look rather happy. I did however, pick up on Wills’ comment along the lines of 'we've only just met him, this is a very special time' which I interpreted as ‘we’ve done out bit by showing you our baby, now please do your bit and give us some space and privacy!’ which I think is fair enough. I feel quite sorry for them and really do think that the media coverage is slightly excessive. Then again I think that certain articles such as this one are just unnecessary. I’m pretty certain that given the choice, they wouldn’t want any of this hype and they certainly haven’t asked for it. They simply want to enjoy some time with their newborn, like any brand new parents would! I think it would be wonderful if we could give them a bit of space, but also if people who are bitter / ‘pitying’ of the royals / whatever they want to call it, could just pipe down. If you don’t like the media frenzy, ignore it and go and read a good book. It will have died down soon enough.

*Not to put a downer on the mood at all, but wouldn’t it have been just a teensy bit more interesting if it had been a girl?! History would have been made, as she would have been Queen, regardless of brother or not!

100% of readers of this blog think it’s a cracker!*

Ah the power of marketing and advertising. Even though I like to think of myself as smart, uneasily influenced and resistant to glossy print advertising and super tv ads, I do sometimes find myself in Boots heading to the till with that super swish newly launched mascara that will definitely give me the ‘falsies’ effect – after all, ‘99% of users agree’!

It is 100% true, that most beauty product related ads aimed at females, have a strap line along the lines of “90% of testers” or “9 out of 10 testers” were overjoyed with the product, would use it again and even recommend it to their bff. Wow, must be a super product!

Indicating that 99% of testers were very happy to recommend the product sounds great. I immediately envisage masses upon masses of women all running to their local Boots to snap up said mascara. Then they’ll all run straight home and put it on and POW have fabulously fluttering lashes. Men will go weak at the knees and before we know it the likes of Sushi Samba, The Oblix and any other London venue du jour will be unable to process the magnitude in couples wanting a table for a hot date. I MUST have this mascara.

BUT what we don’t usually know, or wouldn’t even think to consider, is the number of ‘testers’ that were actually asked about the product. We all went through the painful and seemingly pointless process of learning all about proportions and ratios at school and now would be a good time to advocate that accumulated knowledge..! I remember once being suitably impressed with a strong endorsement for a new mascara; 93% of customers who tried said mascara loved it and thought that it was the bees’ knees. Pretty impressive, must be worth the money! Then I read the itty bitty details. The sample size of testers was 7. Yes, seven.

 

So obviously this is an exaggeration, but you get the jist. Companies are quite content with pulling the wool over the eyes of their poor, loyal consumers who perhaps don’t have a strong understanding of sample sizes and reliability… God damn it maybe they simply trust the brand!

When companies were originally forced to start disclosing the evidence for their sometimes amazingly abstract claims, the idea was for customers to receive the clarity they deserve. Now somewhere along the line, thanks to some sly marketing fox that is probably now giggling into his gold, this has gone walkabout. I think that perhaps it’s time to put the issue up for discussion… Even if companies are merely ‘encouraged’ as opposed to forced to use a reliable sample size, one company will hopefully do so and set the standard. Not asking for a lot here pals, simply some truth… I can’t afford all of these new mascaras!!

*Sample size: 1

Twenty Something

I’m 21 (so I can legally drink everywhere. Yes, everywhere in the whole entire world. But I still can’t hire a mini-van), I have a degree and I have moved out. I’ve done various internships which have all been eye opening, interesting and beneficial in completely different ways. I think I’m ready to admit to myself that yes, Lisa, I am now in the real world. Work, salary, bills and post-work drinks are all a reality.

Wham slam bam thank you ma’am. I guess you could say that I’ve been given free reign on life.

But I still see myself in a somewhat sense of quasi-adulthood / quasi-childhood, a kind of halfway house... Rather than photos in gilded frames I have fairy lights on my wall (dorm room chic), some of my clothes are currently on the floor and this weekend I’m going ‘home’ to visit the fam where I still have my bedroom. I like that. Hell I neeeeed that! If the ceiling were to fall on my head, I could potentially scramble home, tail between my legs and hide under the duvet. Although not literally advisable, it’s nice to know that the option is theoretically still there.

Currently, blogs, TV programmes and the general media are full of the term ‘twenty somethings’ to describe my age and generation; sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. Although I am a wee bit sick of it, it is quite nice. It seems socially acceptable to be in this self-labelled limbo.

The ‘twenty something’ blanket gives me a bit of time to sloooowly ease myself into being an adult. It psychologically gives me a bit of time to fully grow into my adult persona. Ideal. If someone were to say to me today: “you are now 100% an adult” I think I’d be pretty scared. In my books, ‘adults’ don’t make mistakes on tax forms, let the bins overflow or forget to pay bills. Obviously one should avoid these things at any stage, but perhaps a ‘twenty something’ is expected to still make a few mistakes. I like to call it learning by doing.

So despite the fact that I am ready to face the big, bad world and throw myself into the deep end of the rat-race, I think I’ll happily hold onto that ‘twenty something’ label for a bit. A little psychological teddy bear for the road.