Things That Signal The End Of Civilization...

Who Would Spend $17 on Toothpaste? Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! I know the answer!

The pricey toothpaste I stumbled on showed just how far brands like Aesop can go to blur the lines between health-care and beauty products. In doing that, some of them have traded in the finer points of scientific advancement (like fluoride) that have long characterized oral hygiene. In return, luxury toothpastes offer fun flavors, such as jasmine and ginger, and beautiful packaging. While some do tout their "natural" ingredients, they generally don't make any super-scientific claims about their superiority. They're just another option that'll get the job done, if you want to spend 10 or 15 extra bucks. Based on how soothing it is to go into an Aesop store, they might be worth it for a certain kind of consumer, but the reason why doesn't have much to do with shiny teeth.

This is toothpaste. Pace Nevergiveup and the other dentists who read this blog, but...this is nuts. It's not just the price, which is absolutely insane; it is the obsessive focus on something that simply isn't that important.

This isn't a perfectly understandable desire for quality. This is virtue signalling more than anything else, and it also smacks of elitism. And stupidity, because fluoride is sort of a big thing amongst people in the know...meaning people who don't burn science on the altar of their post-modern, new-age god.

What's next? Merino wool Q-Tips? Floss woven from the finest alpaca? Natural statins made from Brazilian Rain Forest mud and ground seashells from a remote island in the South Pacific?

Have at it...what's the most ridiculous consumer product you can conjure up?

&topic=world_news"> posted by CBD at 02:35 PM

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