• Adam Ruins Everything: How Listerine Created Bad Breath
    67 replies, posted
Bad breath is one of those things that I'd only worry about when on a job interview honestly, things where you've got one shot to make a good impression then all the other times if it's bad then just put it down to being sick or having a meal that had a stronger smell than toothpaste.
[QUOTE=GunFox;49038194]I don't understand the issue you lot are taking with this. He is pointing out, accurately, that something nobody thought twice about was converted into something people were self conscious of, by a marketing campaign. We do not, objectively, react to almost any odor, fecal matter included. The US military tried, many years ago, to develop a stink bomb that could be air deployed and would serve as a non lethal area denial weapon. They failed because they not only couldn't produce a stench that upset all humans at a basic level, but they couldn't even make a stench that worked for MOST people. Stench, like bad breath, is socially constructed.[/QUOTE] this is what a smelly person would say
[QUOTE=Socram;49038250]This is hilariously ridiculous sounding, sounds like something you'd see screenshotted off tumblr. Despite the interesting historical anecdote saying bad smells are a social construct is a stretch. There is absolutely a general consensus on things that smell bad and things that don't. You'd be hard pressed to find the average person who is totally okay with smelling shit or making out with someone who has bad breath.[/QUOTE] Body odor smelling bad is also socially constructed. I know, it seems ridiculous. I don't like the smell of BO and I certainly don't like bad breath, but those are not actually innate characteristics. People didn't bathe or regularly brush for tens of thousands of years. Do you think we just wandered around disgusted by each other?
[QUOTE=Kljunas;49036118]The first part of the video is idiotic. Just because something was being used as a floor cleaner doesn't make it disgusting. Like I drink water daily even though I also use it to wash my feet and flush my shit. Then I guess Listerine used people's insecurities but they didn't "create bad breath".[/QUOTE] pretty much agree entirely, and to further your point water is used in pesticides and inside your toilets, it's used to clean floors, used as animal feed, and can contain lead and mercury so what does everything I said mean? [B]NOTHING.[/B]
[QUOTE=GunFox;49038555]Body odor smelling bad is also socially constructed. I know, it seems ridiculous. I don't like the smell of BO and I certainly don't like bad breath, but those are not actually innate characteristics. People didn't bathe or regularly brush for tens of thousands of years. Do you think we just wandered around disgusted by each other?[/QUOTE] We didn't until we found out that being smelly also equated to not being clean which equated to carrying a fuckton of diseases and parasites.
[QUOTE=GunFox;49038194]I don't understand the issue you lot are taking with this. He is pointing out, accurately, that something nobody thought twice about was converted into something people were self conscious of, by a marketing campaign. We do not, objectively, react to almost any odor, fecal matter included. The US military tried, many years ago, to develop a stink bomb that could be air deployed and would serve as a non lethal area denial weapon. They failed because they not only couldn't produce a stench that upset all humans at a basic level, but they couldn't even make a stench that worked for MOST people. Stench, like bad breath, is socially constructed.[/QUOTE] m8 I sit in bigass 150 people Engineering lectures full of stink-ass people. I'm p sure most people take offence to the smell of bad breath and / or dirty asshole smell. A lot of the guys in my course think it's chill to wake up in the morning and coat themselves in Axe bodyspray. It's not that great sitting next to. Plus when someone is talking to you and all you can smell is the rotting stench of a thousand cat sphincters coming out from their mouth, makes it pretty damn hard to follow the conversation cause all you're thinking about is how to escape. Only time bad breath / smell hasn't bothered me is when I was in a longterm relationship and loved the shit out of my gf. Occasional morning breath didn't phase me at all. But I get super salty when other people are stinking up in, around or near my personal space [editline]3rd November 2015[/editline] also lol at the "people don't react to fecal matter smell". I almost get an aneurysm when I take a dump, leave the toilet for 30 seconds, and go back inside.
[QUOTE=Ganerumo;49038569]We didn't until we found out that being smelly also equated to not being clean which equated to carrying a fuckton of diseases and parasites.[/QUOTE] that plus back in the day one of the biggest reasons people had short lifespans was because they didn't know that living and eating out of a gutter would [U]kill you[/U] just look at China, some people are literally living in garbage bin homes. products like Listerine and soaps are meant to reduce disease. Getting a tooth infection is easy if you don't clean your teeth, in fact, if it gets bad enough, it can kill you pretty painfully. Preventing this is a concern for everyone.
also the argument that hundreds of years ago we didn't wash and stank and weren't disgusted isn't true. Yeah, we didn't wash every day, or week, or whatever, but it's been proven scientifically that your body regulates sebum production / oil production / whatever. There are some people that wash their hair once every two weeks or something and don't have horrible greasy stinky hair cause their hair is used to lack of washing and as a result doesn't produce loads of oil. only thing they'd smell of is body odour
[QUOTE=loopoo;49038588]also the argument that hundreds of years ago we didn't wash and stank and weren't disgusted isn't true. Yeah, we didn't wash every day, or week, or whatever, but it's been proven scientifically that your body regulates sebum production / oil production / whatever. There are some people that wash their hair once every two weeks or something and don't have horrible greasy stinky hair cause their hair is used to lack of washing and as a result doesn't produce loads of oil. only thing they'd smell of is body odour[/QUOTE] when you have oiled back hair even though you don't wash or use gels, you know you smell raw as a foul anus
[QUOTE=loopoo;49038574]m8 I sit in bigass 150 people Engineering lectures full of stink-ass people. I'm p sure most people take offence to the smell of bad breath and / or dirty asshole smell. [/QUOTE] imagine if everyone you have ever known smelled like that for all you have ever known, and you yourself has smelled the same. you would have to get used to it or you'd probably go insane. when you're sitting in that class, are you constantly thinking about how bad it smells? or do you get used to it, forgetting it stinks as your attention drifts to the lecture? if you're focused on the smell the entire time i do not envy you, as far as i am aware most people acclimate to smells fairly quickly. i believe it is our brain filtering out the signal to keep us aware of changes in our environment, similar to how you can walk around all day wearing clothes and not particularly notice them touching you st all times yet your attention is immediately brought to a person touching you
[QUOTE=GunFox;49038555]Body odor smelling bad is also socially constructed. I know, it seems ridiculous. I don't like the smell of BO and I certainly don't like bad breath, but those are not actually innate characteristics. People didn't bathe or regularly brush for tens of thousands of years. Do you think we just wandered around disgusted by each other?[/QUOTE] This is a bit misinformed. Dating back hundreds of years is the saying "To hunt, to play, to wash, to drink, – This is to live!", which originated from France. Cleanliness has always been strived for; even the Romans focused heavily on bath houses. Its just the standards that have increased, its usually to the betterment of society. The goalpost moves, and while I don't use Listerine, blaming it for making money on selling a largely harmless and actually useful product is counterproductive. Think of all the time wasted on this video alone, when there are much more pressing issues at hand than mouthwash.
[QUOTE=GunFox;49038555]People didn't bathe or regularly brush for tens of thousands of years. Do you think we just wandered around disgusted by each other?[/QUOTE] Most people have washed their faces, hands, and feet whenever possible given the resources at hand. Teeth cleaning such as using a stick or fingernails to remove bits of food and rinsing the mouth with water or rubbing the teeth with a cloth has also been done for ages. People did try to regularly clean themselves whenever possible, going well back into prehistory. Ever since writing was invented, virtually every society has recorded something about people smelling bad.
I generally like their videos but this one is a bit shit. Bad breath is a thing and I don't need anyone to tell me that it is, I have a functioning nose. Normally I can feel if I have bad breath myself, let alone other people. That being said I don't use Listerine. Just brush my teeth daily and if I feel like I have bad breath because of something I ate/hangover I just get some chewing gun.
The title of the video is misleading.... they didn't create bad breath, it's just smart pr to make people pay more attention to it and create the need of buying listerine.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;49038228]Everybody is ignoring the fucking giant pillar of support for his argument (Listerine invented the term "Halitosis" as a marketing tactic). They fucking didn't: [url]http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/halitosis[/url] [/QUOTE] He's not saying that, Listerine is. Look again at 1:20
[QUOTE=loopoo;49038588]also the argument that hundreds of years ago we didn't wash and stank and weren't disgusted isn't true. Yeah, we didn't wash every day, or week, or whatever, but it's been proven scientifically that your body regulates sebum production / oil production / whatever. There are some people that wash their hair once every two weeks or something and don't have horrible greasy stinky hair cause their hair is used to lack of washing and as a result doesn't produce loads of oil. only thing they'd smell of is body odour[/QUOTE] you're still supposed to wash your hair every day you just don't use conditioner or shampoo. if you don't even put water through it then your hair will still be super gross just from gradual buildup. you need a balance of no products but frequent cleaning
[QUOTE=Cuel;49039997]He's not saying that, Listerine is. Look again at 1:20[/QUOTE] Well then Listerine is wrong, because they didn't coin the word (at most it can be argued that they promoted its usage).
that's the point, they're using it for marketing
I thought we evolved to avoid bad odors because they indicate the presence of disease causing materials.
[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;49038611]imagine if everyone you have ever known smelled like that for all you have ever known, and you yourself has smelled the same. you would have to get used to it or you'd probably go insane. when you're sitting in that class, are you constantly thinking about how bad it smells? or do you get used to it, forgetting it stinks as your attention drifts to the lecture? if you're focused on the smell the entire time i do not envy you, as far as i am aware most people acclimate to smells fairly quickly. i believe it is our brain filtering out the signal to keep us aware of changes in our environment, similar to how you can walk around all day wearing clothes and not particularly notice them touching you st all times yet your attention is immediately brought to a person touching you[/QUOTE] this thread is bad luck, visiting it will curse you with many bad smell encounters. I posted what I did this morning before my lectures, and jfc I sat through 2 hours of Mechanics next to a guy who reeked (the next lecture was in the same room and I just stood up and moved seats it was that bad). He had a combo of bad breath, stale unwashed clothes and kinda smelled of old farts. Normally I get used to most smells, but the problem with this guy is he'd breathe out his mouth, then breathe normally, so the smell would go away, then all of a sudden he breathes out his mouth again and I'd smell his breath again. Didn't get the chance to get used to it. It was pretty horrific. I dunno how people wake up in the morning though and not realise they stink?? Some days I'll be totally aware of the fact I have bad breath / am a bit smelly, and I'll sorta do my best to mask it.
[QUOTE=Ganerumo;49038569]We didn't until we found out that being smelly also equated to not being clean which equated to carrying a fuckton of diseases and parasites.[/QUOTE] I think mouth is a bit different though. It's not supposed to be "really nice smelling," except in society it's expected from us to maintain some level of oral hygiene. But aside from that, the mouth is very important part of our digestion that ultimately helps us to choose whether to spit something out, or swallow it. And saliva serves as our natural mouth wash also, cleansing teeth notably. Saliva usually smells bad, but it's an efficient natural solvent, and is good for you. The mouth is a very bad place to get an infection though, of course. It could cost your entire fucking jaw (so could a punch in the stone ages) and the ability to chew things, like an Airways gum.
[QUOTE=Cuel;49039997]He's not saying that, Listerine is. Look again at 1:20[/QUOTE] If this were the case, then Adam is as terrible at conveying a message as Listerine is at admitting Halitosis existed before the 1920s. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did he didn't mention the use of the word beforehand very clearly. You would leave with the impression Listerine is a lying sack than you would with the impression they used an obscure word to their benefit. [editline]3rd November 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Bat-shit;49040837]I think mouth is a bit different though. It's not supposed to be "really nice smelling," except in society it's expected from us to maintain some level of oral hygiene.[/QUOTE] If your mouth smells like the scum of the earth, it's usually because you have gum rot. Gum rot has been around longer than the 1920s.
[QUOTE=Incoming.;49040872]Listerine is at admitting Halitosis existed before the 1920s.[/QUOTE] where? [url]http://www.listerine.co.uk/what-is-listerine/listerine-story[/url] [quote] 1920’s Listerine coins the term ‘halitosis’ to describe bad breath and sales take off. [/quote] [quote] neologism (redirected from Coin the term) n. 1. A new word, expression, or usage. [/quote] it wasn't a new word or expression, the usage is still the same as its original meaning - "bad breath" [quote=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halitosis]"The word halitosis is derived from the Latin word halitus, meaning 'breath', and the Greek suffix -osis meaning 'diseased' or 'a condition of' [...] Contrary to the popular belief, also raised on QI, that Listerine coined the term halitosis, it actually dates from the 1870s[/quote] they only thing they did was to start using "halitosis" as a form of scare tactic
[QUOTE=Cuel;49041504]they only thing they did was to start using "halitosis" as a form of scare tactic[/QUOTE] I don't view it as a scare tactic. It's causing self awareness. No one said "You're going to die of maggot infection" in Listerine commercials, they used Halitosis because it creates more food for thought than "Your breath is bad."
[QUOTE=Incoming.;49042801]I don't view it as a scare tactic. It's causing self awareness. No one said "You're going to die of maggot infection" in Listerine commercials, they used Halitosis because it creates more food for thought than "Your breath is bad."[/QUOTE] if someone was regularly brushing their teeth then their mouths are clean, any other odor is normal. how many animals can you think of that have pleasant breath? only one i can think of is the koala because of the eucalyptus they eat. breath isn't supposed to smell nice. if anything you're better off not using mouth wash as it kills off a lot of bacteria in your mouth that are beneficial
[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;49042864]if someone was regularly brushing their teeth then their mouths are clean, any other odor is normal. how many animals can you think of that have pleasant breath? only one i can think of is the koala because of the eucalyptus they eat. breath isn't supposed to smell nice. if anything you're better off not using mouth wash as it kills off a lot of bacteria in your mouth that are beneficial[/QUOTE] This still doesn't fall under scare tactics. It's personal preference. Listerine posed a situation that the consumer could choose to accept, or reject. Monsanto, on the other hand, does not.
[QUOTE=GunFox;49038194]I don't understand the issue you lot are taking with this. He is pointing out, accurately, that something nobody thought twice about was converted into something people were self conscious of, by a marketing campaign. We do not, objectively, react to almost any odor, fecal matter included. The US military tried, many years ago, to develop a stink bomb that could be air deployed and would serve as a non lethal area denial weapon. They failed because they not only couldn't produce a stench that upset all humans at a basic level, but they couldn't even make a stench that worked for MOST people. Stench, like bad breath, is socially constructed.[/QUOTE] Y'know, I don't think theres anyone in the world that likes it when a middle aged man comes up to them and his breath smells like he ate a couple of steaks made out of slightly old processed beef for breakfast. (this is for the teachers that I encountered during school time. jesus christ, almost all of them) It's just unpleasant. Heck, its unpleasant for me if I smell my own breath and its bad for whatever reason, even though I'm very likely to not interact with someone at that moment, to show how I have bad breath at that moment, making it unpleasant for other people and shameful to myself.
[QUOTE=loopoo;49038574]m8 I sit in bigass 150 people Engineering lectures full of stink-ass people. I'm p sure most people take offence to the smell of bad breath and / or dirty asshole smell. A lot of the guys in my course think it's chill to wake up in the morning and coat themselves in Axe bodyspray. It's not that great sitting next to. Plus when someone is talking to you and all you can smell is the rotting stench of a thousand cat sphincters coming out from their mouth, makes it pretty damn hard to follow the conversation cause all you're thinking about is how to escape. Only time bad breath / smell hasn't bothered me is when I was in a longterm relationship and loved the shit out of my gf. Occasional morning breath didn't phase me at all. But I get super salty when other people are stinking up in, around or near my personal space [editline]3rd November 2015[/editline] also lol at the "people don't react to fecal matter smell". I almost get an aneurysm when I take a dump, leave the toilet for 30 seconds, and go back inside.[/QUOTE] Many nations have open sewer systems. The smell doesn't bother them. The dislike of certain odors is taught, not innate. Why this is even a discussion, I really don't know. The concept is so simple that even a basic glance at every other mammal in existence should give you a pretty good idea that bad odors are a subjective concept. What smells bad to a dog? A cat? A cow? Individual dogs will find certain smells objectionable, but what smells bad to all dogs? This isn't to say, as you suggested, that foul odors don't exist. Smells clearly elicit a strong reaction for people. Fecal matter odors can turn my stomach too, but then so can a strong odor of peppermint. Foul odors exist, and they have real effects, but the concept itself is something learned, not something genetically programmed.
im not sure why everyone they are fixating on the breath thing, the most valuable aspects of the stuff have hardly anything to do with that listerine is an excellent disinfectant it numbs my canker sores/makes them heal faster, cleans my retainer, and washes out the literal shit still in my mouth dislodged by brushing and flossing [editline]3rd November 2015[/editline] it's also my favorite color
[QUOTE=GunFox;49042945] Foul odors exist, and they have real effects, but the concept itself is something learned, not something genetically programmed.[/QUOTE] Can you cite a source here? Something peer reviewed, preferably?
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