Inappropriate advertising by Oreck

That ad is nothing compared to this Ikea ad that eventually did get
banned. If anything, they have done A LOT of cleaning up! This
commercial made me uncomfortable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TO90OV1IME

We understand you have concerns with our advertising.

Our uprights being compared to a hurricane is referencing the suction

velocity of our uprights. The suction velocity of the uprights can be

comparable to 102 mile per hour wind speed. We apologize if you found
our
commercial offensive, and we will forward this information to our
Marketing
Department for review. We appreciate your feedback.

If you have further comments or concerns, feel free to contact us via
e-mail
or call our Customer Care representatives by dialing 1-800-989-3535.
We
appreciate your business.

Danielle H.
Oreck Corporation
Customer Care Department



I am glad they replied. Although I do understand they were simply
making a reference with no malicious intent whatsoever, it still bugs
me.

As I said earlier, I am also glad I am in a tiny minority, and that
those who have been through these things are not affected in the
least.

For those of you who chose to disagree without attacking me, thank
you, I do appreciate your thoughts!

Oh for Pete's sake. If people are going to send letters like the
OP's, then maybe I'll start sending letters of complaint as well.

"Dear uncle Bob,

Just last week at dinner you said you were so hungry that you could
eat an entire cow. Well I noticed that not only did you NOT eat an
entire cow, you barely are the filet mignon you had on your plate.

Sir, what you did was false advertise, you exaggerated and it was
unappreciated and I feel as though I was lied to.

Shame on you Uncle Bob!

Love,
me



Now that I think about it, why isn't she complaining to the people who
AIRED the commercial. Oreck people don't come in and tell the TV
stations when to air their commercials. It was just odd timing, get
over it!

You know, this really sucks, but I guess that is the point.

I can totally see how the timing was bad in airing this commercial,
but I really wish we could all get to a point where we can stop being
so sensitive and taking things so personally. I am sure there was no
malicious intent here.

And all this time I thought world hunger, poverty and war were
important issues.

I am incensed when the media was calling Britney Spears a train wreck,
I mean I travel on Amtrak and these things happen!

...and Dyson is still advertising their "Dual Cyclone" technology -
when will the apathy end?

After living on the Gulf Coast (Biloxi) for 5 years. Only going
through a hurricane once and having Katrina destroy our home in Ocean
Springs, MS. This commercial doesn't sound offensive to me at all.

I do agree with what one person said, that you all are getting angered
on our behalf. Which may be true. I am sure none of my family and
friends that continue to live in the south would deem this offensive.
They probably would want to buy the product.

You shouldn't be so harsh on Oreck.

I waited almost 24 hours to write this letter after seeing the
commercial. Normally, I do not have 'knee jerk' reactions to such
things, and was surprised when I did.

After 24 hours, when I still felt the same, I decided to write.

As for those of you talking about the timing of the commercial,
pulling it, etc, that was not what I was complaining abut. I know it
is almost impossible to pull.

I was was suggesting that it should not have been made int eh first
place, especially given Oreck's experience in the matter.

In reading every one's responses, I am surprised to learn it appears I
am one of the few who thinks this is out of line.

Thanx, everyone for giving your feedback. Proof we can disagree on
this site without attacking each other.

I am still annoyed with Oreck, but in a way, glad it may be just me.
I am especially glad folks who mentioned they have been through these
things are not bothered.

As a person who has survived Opal, Ivan, Dennis, and Katrina (and
received the outer bands of Gustav), I don't find the commerical that
offensive.

I've been through cat 2 hurricanes and beyond. My family's house was
badly damaged in Dennis, a cat 2/3 hurricane.

To me, that tells me, "damn, that vacuum can suck fast." :P

I've seen what winds that speed can do, so it's interesting being able
to visualize that in a vacuum. I suppose being offended or not depends
on the person. My family doesn't find it offensive. When I saw the
commerical in the breakroom at work, with loads of other people who
have been through hurricanes, no one was offended.

I think for people who survived hurricanes, it's different. I
appreciate everyone else being offended on our behalf.

don't think this was intended to be insensitive in the least. In
honesty, they are trying to use levity to ease a situation that was
very touchy in that part of the country for the past several years.

I applaud them for at least attempting to be humorous about it. Not
evetything needs to be all doom and gloom.

For example:

"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but
rather a person with a certain set of attitudes."
Hugh Downs

"There is no education like adversity."
Benjamin Disraeli

"What happens is not as important as how you react to what happens."
Thaddeus Golas

"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our
dispositions, and not on our circumstances."
Martha Washington

Life is far too short to not laugh at the hard times too.

It sounds rather creative to me.



Good Day

Hmmm.... I just don't see how this is that big of a deal. I certainly
understand what they meant with the phrase "Cleaning power of a
category 2 hurricane". I think most people understand that. Of
course, if I had lost my home, or worse, loved ones to Katrina 3 years
ago, I might feel differently. After all, one does not need to be
reminded of a tragedy. HOWEVER, if one is watching news coverage of a
landfalling hurricane, I would think that would be FAR worse in
conjuring up past memories of a tragedy than any kind of advertising.

Know what I mean?

Many commercials are made within a week or two of airing. While the
air time may
have been purchased well in advance this certainly isn't the case with
recording
a commercial. Have you ever seen a commercial for a live show that
shows interviews and other previews of the episode? Those clips are
often taken during the dress rehearsal just hours before the show
airs. Heck, they even have a commercial ready at the very end of the
Super Bowl with clips from the game. Even the recordings of many
shows
are only a week before they air. My aunt was on a game show and it
aired less than a week after she went to the set to record. It was
very distasteful of Oreck and they could have changed the commercial
in plenty of time.

My exhusband is in advertising, and I did freelance work for his
agency.

It has been my experience that there is NOT a lot of time between when
a commercial gets made and when it goes on the air. Many commercials
are aired within a week of buying the air time. Exceptions are for
products that advertise regularly all year long--those companies
prepurchase air time far in advance, although the commercials will
change over time.

Most likely, Oreck timed this on purpose. And they should have known
better.

I don't have a background in advertising, but from what I understand,
companies purchase air time in advance. Oreck likely purchased
30-seconds of airtime between 2 & 2:30 pm (or whatever time they
bought), without knowing that a hurricane would be bearing down on the
Gulf Coast at that time. In order to not offend anyone, the Marketing
Department would have to not air that commercial at all during
hurricane season, to avoid the risk that there would be hurricane
coverage at the time that their commercial happens to air.

Many are made within a week or two of airing. While the air time may
have been purchased well in advance this certainly isn't the case with
a commercial. Have you ever seen a commercial for a live show that
shows interviews and other previews of the episode? Those clips are
often taken during the dress rehearsal just hours before the show
airs. Heck, they even have a commercial ready at the very end of the
Super Bowl with clips from the game. Even the recordings of many shows
are only a week before they air. My aunt was on a game show and it
aired less than a week after she went to the set to record. It was
very distasteful of Oreck and they could have changed the commercial
in plenty of time.

Suggesting a company should spend tens to hundreds of thousands to
change a commercial to avoid offending a small section of the
population is completely crazy. All that will happen is the extra
expense of changing the commercial will be passed on to the consumers
that AREN'T offended by it, causing them to spend more money on the
vacuum. Another example of how the majority gets hosed by the minority
because it is "offensive".

I feel like our society has gone beyond the realm of PC to a point of
absolute absurdity. People need to grow thicker skin and let
insignifigant things like this go.

There's more behind the ad you're sering than what you actually see.

And I think there's a huge difference between getting someone to watch
a half-hour show when they're already in front of a tv and getting
someone to lay down the cash for a vacuum cleaner. The more expensive
the product, the more effort that goes into the commerical.

Velocity might be a better term.

That being said I'm told that Oreck Co. did many good things for their
associates which in turn was a win /win for all after Katrina so I
would not hold this one slip against them.

Oreck has been equating the air speed and vacuum in their appliances
to hurricanes for several years. I think they are counting on the
viewer to separate the idea of air movement from the devastation it
can cause.

I don't think they mean to make light of the victims of hurricanes,
and they aren't saying hurricanes have cleaning power. Hurricane
winds have *power* however, and evidently tests show that power is
similar to that inside the vacuum.

Wow. I haven't seen that commercial, but if I had lost my home, I'd
be pretty offended that someone thought it was amusing enough to put
in a TV commercial.