Have you seen it yet? It is the most ridiculous ad I've seen - and yet howlingly funny. I can't find a link to it so I'll try to describe it:
(scene: Professional Office - woman typing at her keyboard.)
She stops suddenly and turns her hands over, wrists up. Then (sound effect: foont) flames erupt from her wrists.
A female co-worker asks "Are you taking a break?"
Fire-lady: (looking up from her wrists in amazement states calmly) "My wrists are on fire."
Co-worker: (makes many complex passes with her hands to accompanying swishy karate sound effects and produces box of Bayer aspirin) "Try this".
(scene: fire-lady typing at her keyboard again; wisps of smoke are all that remains of the fire)
D and I looked at each other in amazement. I cannot believe someone okayed this spot and I wondered if anyone got (or will get) fired (ha ha) for it.
An ad is as effective as the message it conveys and this one conveyed such sublime kitsch that it remains imprinted on me. It is soooo funny. I watched thinking man! the art director is either clearly insane - or a genius. Would I take Bayer because of it? No, not likely. Has it worked - hell yes for brand recognition. Am I offended by the ad? You've got to be kidding! It's too ridiculous to be offensive. I mean - what is with the retro karate chop moves to produce the box of aspirin? (I assume he was going for something that would indicate magic, arcane passes of the hands - if so, silence would have worked better than chop-swish). And as a concerned co-worker/thaumaterge wouldn't you rather cause a fire-extinguisher to magically appear than a box of aspirin?
How has the ad done it's job? To me it says: Bayer... ridiculous. Probably not quite what the creatives intended.
Carpal Tunnel syndrome is not fun - I've had it. Masking the symptoms with pain killers will not cure it. Only stopping the activity that is causing the CTS will help your body heal. This may mean rearranging the way you work - mousing with the left hand for example. Pain killers, however, will help you get through the other activities in your day. Unlike others who were really offended by the ad I don't believe the co-worker was an overseer trying to get her slave to continue working through the pain (and continue to damage herself) - I think she was just trying to help out a fellow worker in pain.
August 4, 2004 2:05 PM | Reply
You've recontextualized my post incorrectly.
I made it very clear that what offended me was not the *style* of the ad (I've worked in new media and I can appreciate the contrived kitsch they were going for. *Aspirin-Fu* is cute but nothing special... that whole *Fu* thing is so 1999). OF COURSE the narrative of the commercial, the graphics, etc, are humorous! You can get caught up in that as much as you like but my issue with the spot goes beyond such a superficial analysis of the ad's "style".
What "offends" me about the spot is that it shows wrist pain (the primary symptom of carpal tunnel) and suggests aspirin as a solution. If you're suffering from wrist pain you don't take a pain reliever and keep working. Doing so will only worsen the condition, which this ad trivializes and pokes fun at. That's not only irresponsible, it's insulting to CTS sufferers. But the most problematic thing about the ad is the fact that there are a lot of people out there who are unfamiliar with the symptoms of CTS who will take a pain reliever and continue to work because the drug has diminished the pain. That's the OPPOSITE of what you should do if you feel tingling in your wrists. My recommendation is that the ad should make it clear (even a bit of text) that the product is not a treatment for CTS. I've already communicated this directly to Bayer, who I've exchanged emails with.
The entertainment value - or lack of - is irrelevant to my argument. BTW - I've actually worked in the industry so I know quite a lot about the styles/genres the ad references. The use of kitsch to sell this product is an effective strategy to speak to those consumers (like yourself) who like to feel *in on the joke*. That's precisely what the creatives wanted and you bought it! In fact, your post couldn't be a better endorsement for their work!It's that whole "I know these products are evil but damn, those ads are fun!" Bravo, you are proof that their market research works. The agency who created those Swiffer ads with Devo were going for that same *ironic* edge. I know because I've researched that ad and the people who made it. Even Mark Mothersborough, the lead singer of Devo, felt the ad was harmless (and I'm sure he's enjoying all the money he got for allowing Swiffer to use Whip It. He's entitled to sell out if he wants to but fans of Devo aren't about to forget the original context of the song (which was anti-establishment).
Just because companies are capable of making fun of themselves doesn't preclude your having a sophisticated or critical engagement with advertising. Have you seen the new McDonald's ads with all those young New York scenesters? I've spent a lot of time in the East Village and lemme tell ya, you couldn't *pay* my fashionable friends there to eat rotten ronnies. And hey, just because a boring, scenester wanna-be can buy a CBGB baby-T at Urban Outfitters doesn't mean they're going to be anything but a boring, scenester wanna-be. In fact, those t-shirts are an insult to anybody (like me) who actually saw bands there back in the day -- pre-faux punk. Avril Lavinge can put a safety pin through her nose and she's still going to be a whiny, suburban bimbo.
Cynicism sells. Irony sells. Kitsch is no longer cool and hasn't been ever since it was coopted by bourgeois decorating shows. All my gay friends are weeping themselves to sleep now that suburban teenagers can buy stuff at the mall they had to *hunt* down in seedy antique shops and flea markets.
Know this: by the time creative directors get their hands on a trend and a look-and-feel it's well past it's expiration date.