I am going to attempt to carefully touch on a somewhat sensitive subject, so please bare with me and understand I mean no disrespect to any party. I will attempt to keep my opinion firmly focused on the monetary ( IE tax dollar ) side of this issue. I in no way have any issue one way or the other with the act or process that I am going to be compiling the following verbiage concerning.
So, I ask you, what is the point of advertising ? I believe the point is relatively simple in its goal. The goal of any advertisement is to convince you to buy a product or adopt a certain point of view. It is intended, sometimes, to educate you on the availability of a product, service, or the existence of a viewpoint in some cases. I think this is a pretty simple and liberal definition of the concept of advertising.
People advertise so you know their products name, and in most cases , why their product is superior and should be purchased by you. People advertise their services for the same reason. Some advertisements are to sway your opinion on a subject, like a campaign advertisement for example.
Now, using the above as a reference, we now have some idea why people advertise and who might be doing the advertising. Now, let me pose this question, who is paying for the advertisement?
In most cases, the cost of the advertisement, in this case a billboard, is born by the person doing the advertising. If Coke wants you to buy Coke and not Pepsi, then Coke pays for the billboard to attempt to convince you Coke is better, or maybe inform you of a new product that Coke has and Pepsi doesn't, etc. Its that simple. Now, if a arm of your state government puts up a billboard, what is it they are trying to do, and who is paying for that?
Well, the answer to this question is simple, the tax payer is paying for the billboard. What might they be attempting to accomplish? Why, the greater good of course. This has shown itself in the past with billboards reminding us to buckle up, don't drink and drive etc. I can see the point here, maybe we do need reminded that we should have our belts on, or face a ticket if nothing else. Maybe we do need reminded that drinking and driving is not real smart. Okay, I will buy that theory, even if its a bit of a stretch, I can see the greater good, or at least the greater good intentions there. If the billboards cost were to save so much as one life, or even minimize one persons injuries, its worth spending a few tax dollars on.
Now, to the reason for this random post. There is a billboard just down the street from were I work that bugs me every time I see it, and I have run out of patients with it today. The billboard is paid for by W.I.C. ( Women Infants and Children ) An honorable and worthy cause I am sure. I point out who paid for it only because it means it came not only from our tax dollars, but came out of their budget as well. Budget monies that I am sure could have been used for some other purpose. My question to you, and my problem, is this, is this billboard worth the money it cost to put up? Should that money have been used someplace else more productively? What are they trying to accomplish ?
Before trying to answer this question, let me tell you whats printed on the billboard.
No kidding:
BREASTFEEDING
WE DID IT, SO CAN YOU !
Okay , is it just me? Refer to above reasons to advertise, what are they hoping to do? And more to the point, why? If I was trying to decide whether or not to breast feed my child ( not that I have that option mind you ) would this at all suggest to me that it was a good idea? No, I think I would be offended by the phrase. I can find no legitimate reason to spend budgeted tax dollars in this manner.
Again, I am not making any statement about whether or not a women should or should not breast feed, that is entirely a decision that should be made as a family unit with some minor input from the husband, but ultimately the sole decision of the mother. I just think that when a Government funded agency wastes money people should ask why........
