Advertising you just don't get

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
molly, she's so hot I can't watch her show

She's disturbingly attractive.

I find her fascinating and the way her lips move lusciously when she eats... combined with her cooking skills, it's almost enough to turn me.

[Elok]

And they just keep coming. Today I saw a commercial for a product called "Head On." The entire thing consisted of a woman smearing what looked like a stick of deodorant, or perhaps a glue-stick, to her forehead, while the following scintillating dialogue played:

Crowd Voiceover: Head On--Apply directly to the forehead?
Announcer: Apply directly to the forehead.
Crowd Voiceover: Head On--Apply directly to the forehead!
Announcer: Head On does not require a prescription.

That's the ENTIRE COMMERCIAL. They never tell you what the product is supposed to do, or why it's such a big advantage that you can Apply it Directly to your Forehead. The whole thing seemed like some sort of ridiculous performance art. I seem to remember hearing somewhere that if advertisers tell you what a drug does, they also have to tell you its side effects (anyone know if that's true?), so maybe this crap has some incredibly nasty complications. Or maybe it's just a prank, and they wanted to see how many people would go out and rub deodorant on their foreheads without having any clue what it supposedly does. APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD, PUNY MORTALS!!!

On the other hand, it is fun to imagine what it's designed to treat. Forehead rash? Smelly brow? Really shallow sinus infections? Now I think I'll leave it at that, since I've already given the stupid commercial far more thought than it merits.

[Lorizael]

Wow, Elok, you're lucky. Have you just now come across that commercial? It's been running for awhile now.

[Elok]

I might have seen it yesterday too, but I was stoned on Benadryl so I can't be sure. Hooray for late summer/early autumn allergies!

[Lorizael]

Sure, it probably ran yesterday too, but this campaign is like a year old. Although I think the version you quoted is slightly different than the original commercial.

Anyways, your allergies only act up at specific points in the year? Again, lucky you. My allergies never stop acting up. I wish I knew what smelling was really supposed to be like.

[Elok]

Oh, I'm almost always a little stuffed up...except in winter, when the dry air gives me nosebleeds instead. It's just that my allergies only become unbearable (as in, I blow my nose twenty times in a row so the skin is rubbed half-raw, and there's still more coming out) around autumn. There's some definite improvement today, though, since my parents got sick of hearing me sneeze and blow my nose, closed all the doors and windows, and turned on the A/C instead.

Did the original version of that commercial mention what it's supposed to be used for? Irrelevant as it is, I can't help wondering why you're supposed to Apply Directly to the Forehead.

[Lorizael]

No but, believe it or not, wikipedia actually has a fairly extensive article on it.

[Elok]

Thanks. I bet the hemorrhoid cream commercials are even more fun. Apply directly to the...

[Arrian]

Originally posted by Elok
And they just keep coming. Today I saw a commercial for a product called "Head On." The entire thing consisted of a woman smearing what looked like a stick of deodorant, or perhaps a glue-stick, to her forehead, while the following scintillating dialogue played:

Crowd Voiceover: Head On--Apply directly to the forehead?
Announcer: Apply directly to the forehead.
Crowd Voiceover: Head On--Apply directly to the forehead!
Announcer: Head On does not require a prescription.

That's the ENTIRE COMMERCIAL. They never tell you what the product is supposed to do, or why it's such a big advantage that you can Apply it Directly to your Forehead. The whole thing seemed like some sort of ridiculous performance art. I seem to remember hearing somewhere that if advertisers tell you what a drug does, they also have to tell you its side effects (anyone know if that's true?), so maybe this crap has some incredibly nasty complications. Or maybe it's just a prank, and they wanted to see how many people would go out and rub deodorant on their foreheads without having any clue what it supposedly does. APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD, PUNY MORTALS!!!

On the other hand, it is fun to imagine what it's designed to treat. Forehead rash? Smelly brow? Really shallow sinus infections? Now I think I'll leave it at that, since I've already given the stupid commercial far more thought than it merits.

Heh. That's been running for months. And yeah, it's annoying as hell.

It's aimed at morons. Not being a moron, you don't get it.

-Arrian