I’ve long known that some seals and endorsements on products were a little invented. Sometimes a product’s maker concocts it or actually creates a meager nonprofit group just to impart the seal. I think a particular sunscreen as an endorsement from the Sundamage Institute that I have never heard of before.
Did you know that the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval doesn’t really have a judging panel who deems one product superior to others? Did you know that the Seal doesnt mean something is a good deal? It is public perception that a product displaying the seal in their ad or their packaging was a sign of higher quality.
In fact, the Seal an be bought. A company or product gets the Seal if they spend or agree to spend per contract a certain percentage of their advertising budget with Good Housekeeping. Of course, companies who have a very meager budget couldn’t afford an ad in Good Housekeeping, but for those with more substantial budgets, it goes by percentage. The company must agree to accept a return of a defective product for a period of time, but that is just good business practice across the board. Allowing returns itself does not qualify you for the seal. I found this out from some folks who used to run an ad agency who had been aware of the stipulations of the seal.
What is intriguing to me is Vick’s VapoRub is listed as a recipient of the Seal. How does that qualify for a return “if defective up to two years.” Is that for people who got sick using it, but kept the rest of he contents of the container in the cabinet for another year and a half? The whole incident escapes their mind until they clean out the cabinet and find it again, then the whole bad memory comes rushing back? They notice the Seal and say, “oh, I can return this. I could use the refund to buy some cocktail sauce.”
So, for the product makers out there who are hoping that their pickles or ketchup or tableware will win the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval someday, the secret is out.
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