Holten: The secret to contentment

When I walked in the door the other night, the television was on and the first thing I heard was, “Do you know that 80 percent of women are suffering from hair damage?” Of course, it was a hair product commercial. And I wondered to myself, do they really think that I will believe that 80 percent of all women are suffering from hair damage, just because they say so? They never said 80 percent of the women in America, 80 percent in the world or 80 percent in the galaxy. Rather, they just said 80 percent of women, which I thought was a little presumptive and misleading.

Obviously, there is no way that they talked to 80 percent of the women in America, let alone the world. Instead, they might have surveyed a few hundred and projected that over an entire population hoping we might be gullible enough to believe that it is true. But in the end, it’s not accurate and not a huge, life-threatening conjecture. But it is still one of two ambiguous assumptions.

And yet, how many people who have heard that commercial assume it to be true? Probably 80 percent.

Now the fact is, 90 percent of women could have hair damage. Or it may be 20 percent or 50 percent. Nobody really knows. Which begs the question, when did the results of surveys become the absolute truth? The answer is never. And the reality is that surveys became the standard of measurement used by businesses and politicians for one reason: Because they can be so easily manipulated. And we are naive enough to agree that, well, if it was a survey, it must be true. But it’s not. Instead, it is at best, conjecture.

So maybe we should briefly examine what causes hair damage. According to Medical News Today, the main factors are 1) Over-brushing 2) Heat and lack of moisture 3) Towel drying 4) Not having regular haircuts 5) Poor diet 6) Tight hairstyles 7) Stress 8) Thyroid disorders 9) Various eating disorders and 10) Bad shampoos and styling.

In other words, of the 10 potentially damaging factors, only one has anything to do with a shampoo. And yet, in the commercial, that hair product declared itself to be a hair savior. They touted it as the final answer and the miracle you’ve been looking for, which has a one in ten chance of being true. Because if you ignore the other factors, then that shampoo, which might be the greatest in the world, will be waging a war it can’t win.

Of course, most commercials have very little to do with the actual product and everything to do with the product brand. In other words, you can sell an inferior product if you have a superior brand name, simply because it’s all about image.

And as you know, everyone is looking for happiness and contentment. While every commercial, no matter what the product, is created to assure you that, if you buy this product, it will bring you happiness and contentment, whether it is a new car, house, razorblades, or toilet paper. And if you expect those products to bring you happiness, then you are their perfect customer. But as Abe Lincoln once said, “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Dickinson Press, nor Forum ownership.