When I read that professional golfer Tiger Woods would get $15 million for having the Buick logo on his golf bag, I wondered how car manufacturers would believe the expense would reap such high-priced benefits.
Then another example, incidentally also involving bags, appeared to illustrate the value of celebrity endorsement.
As you may have heard, country singer Shania Twain says she uses Bag Balm, a jelly designed to ease sore teats and udders on milking cows, as part of her beauty regimen. Twain applies the product to her face and hair, believing it softens skin and moisturizes her famous tresses. Sales of Bag Balm took an immediate jump in some regions, according to a Nov. 24 story in the National Post, and the product revelation has caused quite a furor among Twain wannabes.
Read Also
Topsy-turvy precipitation this year challenges crop predictions
Rainfall can vary dramatically over a short distance. Precipitation maps can’t catch all the deviations, but they do provide a broad perspective.
Many rural folk won’t find this example of alternative medicine – or more accurately, alternative uses for medicine – to be all that newsworthy. Ask anyone who has ever used horse liniment on aches and pains.
I made some calls to prairie farm supply stores and vet clinics, and found that the benefits of Bag Balm have been recognized for a while, so sales have not soared with the Shania news.
Sore-teated cows on our ranch received liberal applications of Udder-Ease, a product similar to the Twain tweatment. Oops, make that Twain treatment. Yes, my hands felt softer after I slathered it on Betsy, but the pungent and long-lasting smell discouraged regular personal use.
Had I known it would the one thing that separates me from Shania Twain – besides looks and talent – I may have rethought the matter.
Better-smelling animal salves have been used for years to ease diaper rash on children. But there are risks in admitting use of an animal product on the baby, which may explain why the other benefits of Bag Balm and like products are not more commonly known.
A can of the stuff, which features a picture of a cow, is reportedly cheaper than a small tube of “human” product.
Bag Balm is used by quilters to ease cracked fingertips, and it disappears from veterinary shelves particularly in winter, when people use it for cracked heels and severely chapped skin.
A word of caution, however. The label says “For Veterinary Use Only” and there’s got to be a reason for that.
