I was driving past a local car wash.  I saw a banner in bold that read Graphene.  Literally just the word Graphene!  This is how I imagine (dramatization) some people think you should react to this:

‘OMG they got that graphene stuff!  I heard it can XYZ better than the 5 years ago flavor of the month that can XYZ.  It is that miracle thing that I don’t even understand.  First it was ceramic, and by ceramic I mean just the word ceramic.  But now it has graphene.  Wow instead of spending or paying someone several hours washing and making a car surgically clean, several more hours of just polishing, and a couple of hours applying protection with professional grade products, I’ll just sprinkle a little graphene on it.  And oh my, it is detailed!’

I don’t know,  I heard they were coming out with Alpha Coat X-13.  Alpha Coat will make your paint invincible!  You will never have to clean it again for the rest of your life.  Let us get back to reality here.

Does that canned pretend gourmet dinner, that you microwaved, really taste as good as the meal that your favorite relative spent 36 hours preparing for during the holidays?  Actually to compare some of these product advertisements to a TV dinner would actually be generous.  The often exaggerated product demonstrations that we see are not rooted in reality.

I think of myself as a detailer who invests in achieving quality results with mind, body, and spirit.  Instead of practicing attention to detail, applied years of knowledge, careful selection of dozens of products, and multiple days of labor, I can just spray Graphene (used to be ceramic random whatever) and the car is detailed.  Well that would be incredible!  If that was true, my life would be much easier.  Oh wait, that is not reality!  These companies curiously do not seem to target professional detailing business owners.   I suspect their focus is on a mainstream crowd.  If these products were seriously superior to what we use, especially in terms of detailing efficiency, wouldn’t we be using the same products?

Do I have your attention!  No unicorns.

I am not suggesting what you see advertised is not necessarily a good product for what it is (minus the fantasy marketing element).  But nothing beats a proper detailing process.  For companies to suggest otherwise in their marketing, is what WE as professionals recognize as a major flag.  A quick fix promised that you saw on a social media advertisement is fiction.  A detailing process executed with thought and focused effort along with good quality products, is significantly more effective.