…New York dentists kick Florida ass!
Or so it would seem, if you look at this ad. My hygienist clipped this from the newspaper over the weekend and brought it in. See the full ad below (after the jump).
The headline and pitch is a bit tortured and self-contradictory, if you consider that the dentist running the ad is, in fact, a “Florida Dentist.” He’s located in Florida. But, hey… at least he is “New York Trained.”
I’ll make a brand new start of it… in ol’ south Florida
Well, Sparky… I’ve got news for ya. A LOT of dentists in Florida were trained in New York. They say southeast Florida is the “sixth borough” of New York City. I suspect most of the dentists in Florida were trained out-of-state. Not that it matters.
Start spreading the news…
So… This dentist is “comfortable” casting aspersions at the entirety of his Florida colleagues. HE’S different. He’s unique among Florida dentists. Better yet… he’s uniquely-trained, because the dental schools in New York are “better” than all the other nationally-accredited schools.
I want to drill a part of it…
Obviously, he’s trying to appeal to his fellow transplanted New Yorkers. And, that’s OK. Mentioning that he’s “New York trained,” in and of itself is no slight against anyone. He can be proud of where he’s from. And, it very well may appeal to a demographic in south Florida. Good on ya, mate!
BUT…. When the headline reads “Tired of being over treated (sic) by Florida dentists???” it crosses a line. It implicates all “Florida dentists” as committing malpractice. That’s not cool, dude. While it simply provides fodder for my blog (thank you very much), some dentists may not take too kindly to it and take other actions (not my style).
If I can make it there…
In my opinion, it just reflects poorly on the dentist running the ad. It’s not professional and it smacks of petty jealousy. It’s sophomoric. It actually insults the intelligence of prospective patients, too. Booooooo! We can do better than that AND be effective at attracting new patients.
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Fifty years ago a dentist would have not been allowed to publish this ad or any other because marketing was viewed as unprofessional, and would open the door to this kind of thing. Marketing is, after all, telling people – come to me, I’m better – by virtue of my training, equipment, location, hours, fees, etc. I think there is a strong argument to be made that we began to lose our professionalism when we agreed to compete in the public eye on the basis of these claims. And in the process we touched off a spending war that has led us to offices that operate with up to 85% overhead.
There’s probably no putting the genie back in the bottle. But at a minimum let us take it to heart that we only lower the esteem of the public when we trash others to elevate ourselves in advertising.
Marketing is not, by definition, telling people, “I’m better than ______.” So, I disagree on that point.
This ad IS illegal in the state of Florida. So, technically, he’s not allowed to publish it today (never mind 50 years ago). Whether anyone will do anything about it (enforce it), is another question. Besides the claim of superiority, there are some technical issues (omission of a specific disclaimer).
Thanks for chiming in, Mark!
I didn’t expect a publisher of a web marketing book to embrace that characterization of marketing, but, sorry bro cuz I love ya, but it’s true. That’s exactly what marketing is. If not please school me.
Marketing is about selling yourself. It does not require you to put down other dentists. It does not require claims of superiority (illegal in Florida). It’s about communicating why my practice / business may be a good fit for a prospective patient / client.
Disgusting on his part, this from a NYU alumni now living and practing in Florida
I wouldn’t mind relocating to Florida from NY. No way I’m going through all the testing involved again at this stage of my life. Ads like the one shown may be the reason for the obstacles put in place by the Florida Board of Dentistry.
I believe there is some reciprocity now. But, I haven’t looked into it, so I can’t say for sure. I’m quite certain the board would not approve of the ad. But, I’m not bored in life enough to look into that, either. 🙂
I looked it up. Florida now grants reciprocity for those seeking a “Dental Health Access license”. I don’t like the sound of that but I’ll look into it.
Spot on and just ridiculous! What ever happened to our profession that we feel the need to tear each other apart?!
I thought it was pretty pathetic. Thanks for your comments and for visiting my blog!