Chronicle of a Stem Cell Transplant (and on through to the other side)

Thursday, June 04, 2009

No More Tears?

Well, I must be feeling better because I'm back to my wackadoo ways, ranting and raving and threatening to send hate mail to Oprah.

OK, she's not on my hit list this week; instead, it's the hosts of the asinine program, The Mom Show. I don't think it's currently broadcast in the US, but it's going to be and for those not in the know, it is touted as being to moms what Sex & the City is to the single woman. Uh, not quite ladies, you just ain't that funny. However, that is not the problem.

Recently, I've noticed the hosts, Laurie Gelman and Catherine Marion, showing up in a series of TV ads for Johnson & Johnson's baby products. They are apparently unaware that Johnson & Johnson is being urged by more than 40 organizations representing 1.7 million parents, health care providers and environmental health advocates to remove toxic ingredients from its popular baby products.

Johnson’s Baby Shampoo and other of its top-selling children’s bath products contain formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. Both chemicals are known to cause cancer in animals and are listed as probable human carcinogens by the US Environmental Protection Agency. A recent National Cancer Institute study further reinforces the link between formaldehyde exposure and cancer.

Johnson & Johnson is being asked to remove formaldehyde and other hazardous chemicals from its personal care products by the end of 2009. So what, pray tell, are the hosts of The Mom Show and its network Slice doing endorsing these products until they comply?

Furthermore, I feel quite certain that if you or I were being asked to endorse a product (cheezies, anyone?), we'd do a quick Google search and get the facts before hamming it up for the camera (OK, I'd still ham it up, but I'd have my facts straight).

For more info on the Johnson & Johnson campaign, click here.

Next time...Breast Cancer Barbie and, yes, unfortunately, I'm serious.