The truth about Dettol products

[Imamanwhatdoiknow]

Hi to all hard working mums and dads. The more Dettol ads I see on TV the more annoyed I am of the outrageous claims they make. I am not the only one and I am worried that people are taken in by all the tripe and apparently convincing 'facts' that they spout.
It's already hard for people to make ends meet and yet we are bombarded with apparently fact based ads to make us buy products on the basis of protecting our families.
Let me give you examples of some of the tripe they have said in these ads:

1. Chopping boards harbour more germs than toilet seats.

WRONG. And they have been reprimanded by having this particular ad taken off air and in newspaper ads. If you don't believe me take a look here:
dianthus.co.uk/dettol-protects-fact-or-fiction

1. Their surface wipes are 100% effactive against all known allergens.

Well of course they are but so is a damp cloth with washing up liquid.

1. Their latest germ free way of dispensing hand wash :

If you use a normal pump dispenser you will get the same effect - you're going to wash your hands for goodness sake after you put soap on. You will then pick up just as much germs when you wipe your hands with a towel afterwards !

These are just a few claims that get up my nose. So my advice is don't spend your hard earned cash on buying these useless products and certainly don't think you are protecting your family by doing so. That's the guilt trip they are peddling with the ads.
They have received awards on having the best ad campaign in recent years and that annoys me even more because they have ridden on the back of people's fears over MRSA. You don't need these products to keep infections at bay just simple habits of hand washing will do the same.

There is also evidence that by making homes too germ free you are actually making our kids more susceptible to weaker immune systems. The fact is that over the last half century there are more people suffering from allergies.

Well mums and dads - don't believe in everything ads say - do the research if you have any doubts. These companies do not advertise for your families' welbeing they do it for profit.

Well thanks for that Mr Fleming.

I can also find no claim that they are free from animal testing, which doesn't seem necessary in this day and age.

Tesco anti-bac spray is supposedly cruelty free though.

Interesting that this is your first thread and only post OP. Did you join mumsnet just to tell us that Dettol is evil? Stick around, you may find that we already know!

I tend to agree with the OP actually, I don't think Dettol are eeeevilll, but I do find their advertising very annoying, and I don't like their distortions.

The woman's menacing voice is more then enough to put me off buying their stuff. Notice that it gets chirpy once she starts explaining what the products can do

This thread is patronising, it's fairly obvious that a hands free soap dispenser is a pile of useless shit because people will wash their hands after touching it anyway.

Sorry that my OP sounds patronising to so many people. I'm kinda new to this. Still, Dettol didn't get an award for its ads for nothing so there are many people who have been convinced or duped by their claims. My aim was to get the information out there. So apologies again if it has offended.

In their latest ad Dettol they have a strap line claiming that they are the brand most trusted by doctors - does anyone know which 5 doctors were polled and how much they were paid ?

They were probably paid with Dettol products

My DH is a dr and wouldn't have this shite in the house.