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At Least They're Not Neon Pink Anymore

April 21st, 2007

Multiple readers have expressed concern (or at least they have expressed feelings) about the content of the ads on Big Fat Deal, which Google generates automatically. They are sometimes ads for plus-size clothing and dating sites; sometimes ads for diet products and fad diet drugs. Rachel summed it up when she said:

I just think the advertising on the site is somewhat contradictory to the blog’s great, empowering posts on how women should accept themselves at whatever their size.

And Rachel has a good point–they are the reason I code named a certain diet substance “Kelly Clarkson,” after all. And I even looked into blocking the ads by keyword (which Google does not allow you to do). But they don’t really bother me all that much, the more I think about it, and here’s why:

  • We really don’t have anything against weight loss. A lot of our readers are in the process of losing weight, or have lost weight. Ads for Jenny Craig or what have you don’t really bother me. If you want to lose weight in a reasonable, healthy manner, I support that. I myself have done the South Beach diet and am on Weight Watchers right now. Whatever size you choose to be, whatever you need to be happy and healthy, you go for it. Just don’t hate yourself, don’t hate your fat, don’t hate people for choosing to be fatter than you deem acceptable. That’s the message here, I think.

  • The readers of this site are intelligent, discerning people. I don’t think any of us is going to be taken in by an ad for “Kelly Clarkson” or whatever the newest weirdo diet drug is. I hope we have strong enough self-esteem and critical thinking skills that we won’t believe what the ads want us to believe about our own inadequacy. (I’d love to hear from some guys on this—do those ubiquitous ads for penis-enhancing drugs make men feel inadequate? I wonder.) Anyway, I hope people can filter out the ads that they don’t care about.

  • Wil Wheaton actually addressed this a few days ago himself, when his readers objected to a giant ad for a Bill O’Reilly book:

    For the record, I think Bill O’Reilly is the biggest douchebag in the universe this side of Dick Cheney and King George, but if his people want to waste their time and money advertising to a group of people who are too smart to buy into his bullshit, I’m happy to take it, and give it to the ACLU, or Media Matters, or some other organization that you could call a Bill O’Reilly offset.

    Are we stealing from the rich and giving to the poor? Maybe not, but Big Fat Deal does allow us to share a message with the world that is, I think, a good one. So maybe it evens out somehow. As I wrote to the commenter above, maybe we can see ads for fad diet products as ironically entertaining!

I have an account on BlogAds for Big Fat Deal, so maybe eventually I will be in a position to accept and reject ads, and I’ll have to reevaluate my opinions if Bill O’Reilly comes knocking on my door. But I hope you understand the rationale for keeping the Google ads the way they are, even if they are annoying. I tried to make them blend in with the background and they’re certainly not plastered everywhere. But they paid for the site redesign, and they pay my hosting costs, and hopefully that’s okay with you guys.

While I’m on the subject, you can support Big Fat Deal in lots of different ways, one of which is clicking on the ads. Some other things you can do, if you like the site:

  • Bookmark us, visit regularly, and read our entries!
  • Join the community: comment on our entries, or leave a comment in the introduce yourself topic. Argue, discuss, commisserate, and disagree. I love it all.
  • Put a link to Big Fat Deal on your site somewhere, or favorite us on Technorati.
  • Go to the introduce yourself topic and visit the blogs of your fellow commenters. They are awesome people.
  • Click on all those Digg thingies at the bottom of the posts. Those are good, right?

If you can think of anything else to add to the list, let me know. And I really appreciate all your support to date. Feel free to share your thoughts on this below.

Posted by mo pie

Filed under: Advertising, Meta

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6 Responses to At Least They're Not Neon Pink Anymore

  1. PastaQueen, on April 21st, 2007 at 11:02 am Said:

    It might be a good idea to put up a disclosure policy about the ads or just link to this post somewhere in your “about” page. There is a site called DisclosurePolicy.org that automatically generates one for you. I’ve been thinking about putting one on my site. I only put ads on my site back in the fall and I did a lot of thinking about where I stood ethically before doing so. I decided against Google ads because I didn’t want anyone visiting my site and assuming (even accidentally) that I’d lost over 100 pounds by using Hoodia or something equally ridiculous. My ads are all for affiliate programs that I approve of or are Amazon.com links to products I actually use and endorse. It’s definitley a tricky line to walk, but I also don’t see anything wrong with making money off of a project you work hard on.

  2. littlem, on April 23rd, 2007 at 2:10 pm Said:

    “Bill O’Reilly offset.”

    To those of us who became rabid Trekkers with the introduction of TMG, it is astonishingly clear why Wesley’s last name is Crusher.

  3. littlem, on April 23rd, 2007 at 2:11 pm Said:

    That would be “TNG”.

    Ahem.

  4. v'ron, on April 24th, 2007 at 11:45 am Said:

    I’m with you and Wil Wheaton on this. Chrissie Hynde was aghast that “My City Was Gone” is being used as the theme music for Rush Limbaugh’s show, but she just cashes her royalty check and gives it to organizations that would make that windbag’s skin crawl.

    Your audience is indeed smart enough to filter all the crap out. You go girls, take the $$$!

    I used to be all pure and untainted about things like this and I would be aghast about some of the ads. But I’m in my 40s now.

  5. Terabanitoss, on May 11th, 2007 at 6:56 am Said:

    OEM Software is the same software package but without the manufacturer’s technical support service. Usually OEM Software does not include a manual, nor a fancy box. Usually, you will have to download the OEM software installation package after paying for it.

    Need to download cheap oem Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 ?

    There is OEM software online store with free software downloads providing full version software!

    Hurry up, it’s limited offer!

  6. SriMathe, on February 14th, 2009 at 12:31 pm Said:

    I would not as a rule comment to weblogs however I liked this post so I was compelled to do so. Straying away from the topic somewhat, what are your thoughts concerning walking? It is generally being put forward as the best exercise to burn fat.

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