The times they're a changing

vic

Oh my goodness.... how values and perceptions have changed over the years hey ?

???

epictring

I have visual culture studies at university. We look at these ads a lot, you should see some of the old Coke ads.

Let’s her child drink Coke for his sake of having a “higher chance of gaining acceptance and ‘fitting in’”. Ironically, Coca- cola used to sell its “healthy”, “cool” image, as the ad reveals. Today, Coca Cola is regarded as anything but healthy.

Warren

I'm always struck by how, before people knew radiation was deadly, it was considered beneficial in all kinds of ways:

vic

Smurf...that beats them all ! ??? ??? ??? Unbelievable !

Warren

Vic wrote Smurf...that beats them all ! ??? ??? ??? Unbelievable !

Those suppositories make me shudder...radium isotopes shredding the DNA in your ass! ? ? Geez...

vic

Men used to have the upper hand.... ?

epictring

ShreddySmurf wrote
Vic wrote Smurf...that beats them all ! ??? ??? ??? Unbelievable !
Those suppositories make me shudder...radium isotopes shredding the DNA in your ass! ? ? Geez...

Makes you think, they got away with it then, they can get away with it now - if the "knowledge" of it being so deadly isn't out there. We can have a few "radiation" products on our shelves today and not even know it.

Scary actually, if these things were out there and was causing cancer etc.

singemonkey

epictring wrote
ShreddySmurf wrote
Vic wrote Smurf...that beats them all ! ??? ??? ??? Unbelievable !
Those suppositories make me shudder...radium isotopes shredding the DNA in your ass! ? ? Geez...
Makes you think, they got away with it then, they can get away with it now - if the "knowledge" of it being so deadly isn't out there. We can have a few "radiation" products on our shelves today and not even know it.

Scary actually, if these things were out there and was causing cancer etc.

They didn't "get away with it." they didn't realise it was harmful. It glowed in the dark and was all awesome, and just like all kinds of alternative health supplements and treatments now, that appearance was enough to convince people that it must be awesome for your health too (same as the craze for treating everything with electricity in the late 1800s). There may well be hidden dangers in products today. But testing is more sophisticated to the extent that things as grotesquely dangerous as this are spotted way earlier. When 30% of your study not only don't have whiter teeth, but their teeth fall out... and they get leukaemia, regulatory bodies aren't quick to pass it for public consumption.

Warren

epictring wrote
Makes you think, they got away with it then, they can get away with it now - if the "knowledge" of it being so deadly isn't out there. We can have a few "radiation" products on our shelves today and not even know it.

Scary actually, if these things were out there and was causing cancer etc.

Singed is right: they didn't know. Even Marie Curie who discovered Radium and Polonium didn't know their deadly nature, and she worked with them for years before dying of leukaemia. Her personal stuff is so radioactive that it's kept in lead-lined boxes.

aja

singemonkey wrote
epictring wrote
ShreddySmurf wrote
Vic wrote Smurf...that beats them all ! ??? ??? ??? Unbelievable !
Those suppositories make me shudder...radium isotopes shredding the DNA in your ass! ? ? Geez...
Makes you think, they got away with it then, they can get away with it now - if the "knowledge" of it being so deadly isn't out there. We can have a few "radiation" products on our shelves today and not even know it.

Scary actually, if these things were out there and was causing cancer etc.
They didn't "get away with it." they didn't realise it was harmful. It glowed in the dark and was all awesome, and just like all kinds of alternative health supplements and treatments now, that appearance was enough to convince people that it must be awesome for your health too (same as the craze for treating everything with electricity in the late 1800s). There may well be hidden dangers in products today. But testing is more sophisticated to the extent that things as grotesquely dangerous as this are spotted way earlier. When 30% of your study not only don't have whiter teeth, but their teeth fall out... and they get leukaemia, regulatory bodies aren't quick to pass it for public consumption.

Read this:

http://www.damninteresting.com/undark-and-the-radium-girls/

And this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope

And watch this:

=

aja

ShreddySmurf wrote
epictring wrote
Makes you think, they got away with it then, they can get away with it now - if the "knowledge" of it being so deadly isn't out there. We can have a few "radiation" products on our shelves today and not even know it.

Scary actually, if these things were out there and was causing cancer etc.
Singed is right: they didn't know. Even Marie Curie who discovered Radium and Polonium didn't know their deadly nature, and she worked with them for years before dying of leukaemia. Her personal stuff is so radioactive that it's kept in lead-lined boxes.

I believe that she also wore a necklace with a radioactive pendant.

Also, see here:

Before the manifold dangers of radiation exposure were fully understood, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1940s, working to develop the first atomic bomb, handled radioactive materials in a manner that would probably be considered foolhardy toady. After the first atomic-bomb test in the New Mexico desert, the sand beneath the test stand was fused by the intense heat of the explosion into a greenish, glassy material the scientists called trinitite (the code name of the first atom bomb test was "Trinity"). Some of the lab personnel made necklaces and other souvenirs out of the trinitite, which was moderately radioactive, and hence potentially health-threatening.

Source:
http://azerifleet.com/medical/index.php?search_page=8&key=3

Chabenda

Wow - these are amazing old ads and a great subject! Thanks.

vic

Interesting and disturbing stuff !

???

Q: how many other dangers are out there which we have no idea of yet ? Hypothetical....single coil pickups found to be the major factor in the onset of impotence in guitarists over 40 ?

chrisbark

aja wrote http://www.damninteresting.com/undark-and-the-radium-girls/

Scary stuff. Values and perceptions may have changed but it seems like corporate cover ups and corruption never gets old

Bob-Dubery

chrisbark wrote
aja wrote http://www.damninteresting.com/undark-and-the-radium-girls/
Scary stuff. Values and perceptions may have changed but it seems like corporate cover ups and corruption never gets old

There's a difference between cover ups and ignorance. In the case of the radium suppositories it was ignorance, they had no idea of the harmful effects of radioactive substances. If, to use a ridiculous example, Gibson knew that baked maple was linked to finger nail cancer and kept quiet about that THEN it would be a cover up. If it is found in 5 years time that there is link between baked maple and finger nail cancer then Gibson were not guilty of covering up prior to that time.

Warren

Vic wrote
Q: how many other dangers are out there which we have no idea of yet ? Hypothetical....single coil pickups found to be the major factor in the onset of impotence in guitarists over 40 ?

Well, there are enough dangers that we know about to keep us plenty occupied. ?

It's funny: Mankind has landed a probe on Titan, a rover on Mars. We hit the bottom of the Mariana trench in 1960. We've created particle accelerators so big you could run more than a half-marathon in the tunnels.

But we can't cure cancer, the common cold, or AIDS. There are loads of antibiotic-resistant strains of various bacteria cruising around out there (largely thanks to our own short-sightedness). There are a few active supervolcanoes around the world (Yellowstone national park is one), which could plunge the world into a "volcanic winter" if they erupt with enough force. Despite all the fuss about the recent "near Earth asteroid" last week, it's estimated that a few of those pass as close every week (we just don't spot them) and there's not exactly anything we could do about it even if we did know. Lots more you can find, I'm sure.

Also, if you live in Jo'burg the above are really the least of your concerns... ?

chrisbark

X-rated Bob wrote
chrisbark wrote
aja wrote http://www.damninteresting.com/undark-and-the-radium-girls/
Scary stuff. Values and perceptions may have changed but it seems like corporate cover ups and corruption never gets old

There's a difference between cover ups and ignorance. In the case of the radium suppositories it was ignorance, they had no idea of the harmful effects of radioactive substances.

The people behind the suppositories may have been ignorant, but the Undark article is about a corporate cover up on a grand scale.

When employees start complaining about health issues they get someone to pose as a doctor and tell them nothing is wrong (fraud). Then when they die from radiation poisoning they get the doctor to say it was syphilis (more fraud).

They hire a high profile doctor to write a report, then when they don't like the result they just replace the results with lies and submit a fraudulent report to the government. When the doctor tries to publish his findings they threaten him with legal action.

They even have one of their bigshot shareholders mediate the civil suit to make sure they get a favourable result.

They knew the truth and went to great lengths to ensure that it never got out.

Jack-Flash-Jr

ShreddySmurf wrote
Vic wrote
Q: how many other dangers are out there which we have no idea of yet ? Hypothetical....single coil pickups found to be the major factor in the onset of impotence in guitarists over 40 ?

Well, there are enough dangers that we know about to keep us plenty occupied. ?

It's funny: Mankind has landed a probe on Titan, a rover on Mars. We hit the bottom of the Mariana trench in 1960. We've created particle accelerators so big you could run more than a half-marathon in the tunnels.

But we can't cure cancer, the common cold, or AIDS. There are loads of antibiotic-resistant strains of various bacteria cruising around out there (largely thanks to our own short-sightedness). There are a few active supervolcanoes around the world (Yellowstone national park is one), which could plunge the world into a "volcanic winter" if they erupt with enough force. Despite all the fuss about the recent "near Earth asteroid" last week, it's estimated that a few of those pass as close every week (we just don't spot them) and there's not exactly anything we could do about it even if we did know. Lots more you can find, I'm sure.

Also, if you live in Jo'burg the above are really the least of your concerns... ?

Nail on the head. Even less so than biomedically, humanity is struggling with individual and mass behaviour change requirements...

vic

Jack Flash Jr wrote
ShreddySmurf wrote
Vic wrote
Q: how many other dangers are out there which we have no idea of yet ? Hypothetical....single coil pickups found to be the major factor in the onset of impotence in guitarists over 40 ?

Well, there are enough dangers that we know about to keep us plenty occupied. ?

It's funny: Mankind has landed a probe on Titan, a rover on Mars. We hit the bottom of the Mariana trench in 1960. We've created particle accelerators so big you could run more than a half-marathon in the tunnels.

But we can't cure cancer, the common cold, or AIDS. There are loads of antibiotic-resistant strains of various bacteria cruising around out there (largely thanks to our own short-sightedness). There are a few active supervolcanoes around the world (Yellowstone national park is one), which could plunge the world into a "volcanic winter" if they erupt with enough force. Despite all the fuss about the recent "near Earth asteroid" last week, it's estimated that a few of those pass as close every week (we just don't spot them) and there's not exactly anything we could do about it even if we did know. Lots more you can find, I'm sure.

Also, if you live in Jo'burg the above are really the least of your concerns... ?
Nail on the head. Even less so than biomedically, humanity is struggling with individual and mass behaviour change requirements...

Yip....that's partly because we don't fully understand how viruses and genes work at the molecular level. We have a good handle on bacteria....you zap them either on the cell wall, or at the nucleus with "chemicals" which interfere with some of their metabolic processes. The danger here is of course building up of resistance against these chemicals/antibiotics.

epictring

Now that we're on this subject, how weird is this.. Ad of oscar from his website.

Not implying anything, it is interesting though.

As well as:

Why couldn't they have said "this is my weapon, this is how I love." instead of "this is how I fight". Why does sport have to be associated with fighting? Why do the media portray these messages. These messages sit in the subconscious of a young child (or even adults) and play a role in the perception of life. Then when someone gets in trouble for hitting a rugby player the child is blamed, while his role model said "to fight with his body".

I am using Oscar's ads as an example, not meaning to bash. I stand neutral with his case, but I believe the visual world around us plays a mighty role in how we see life - right and wrong - and act upon it..

This is just one of the thousands of examples.