Silence the Drama of Pain with Voltaren’s Pain Relief Gel

There’s not much great or even good work being done in the pharma category. The category is full of tepid commercials that offer a weak afterglow of what life might be like following a doctor’s office visit. Over-the-counter remedies like Voltaren’s pain relief gel from GSK, on the other hand, can skip the line and […]

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Viagra Airs Its First Ad Featuring Only a Woman, and She Gets Right to the Point

This minute-long BBDO spot for Viagra is, apparently, the brand’s first to show only a woman, and its first to use the word “erection” outside of the description of side effects.

Here, an attractive woman in a slinky blue dress poses on what appears to be an unmade bed or some sort of mattress, assuring us, “Plenty of guys have this issue—not just getting an erection, but keeping it.” She’s got an British accent, so you know she means business. An agency rep says it’s a new direction designed to focus on the partner’s point of view.

That’s a big change from past campaigns, which told men’s stories and kept women in the background, if they were shown at all. “The intensifying of the marketing message makes sense, considering Viagra’s patent expires in three years, along with its monopoly,” NBC’s Today points out.

Viagra ads used to be about as chaste and subdued as they could be while advertising boner pills. For example, this spot from a couple of years ago keeps the focus on some guy and his sailboat. No women in that dude’s crew. Not even a mermaid off the starboard bow.

That traditional level of restraint makes the new ad (also awash in nautical imagery, by the way), well … stick out, and not in an altogether positive way. It feels tacky, and could almost be viewed as an exercise in objectification: Take Viagra, and claim your prize!

Plus, some elements seem like overkill. She says “erection.” Do we really need the ship masts in the distance, rising straight and tall? Or that long pier jutting into the briny deep? And flagpoles planted in the sand?



Socially Stressed? Ask Your Doctor About ‘Not Having Kids’

Since everyone I know is getting married and having children (and making sure Facebook stays informed about every step of those processes), this ad for a fake drug called Not Having Kids is rather timely.

Put together by Internet funny guy Jason A. Messina, the ad riffs on medication advertising's tone and imagery (lots of hikers in those ads) alongside the pervasive social pressure to settle down and procreate by the time one hits 30.

The temptation to be a smug, overbearing asshole about major life decisions cuts both ways, though, which Messina doesn't ignore. The side effects of Not Having Kids are pretty heavy on regret, and when it comes time to list them all in true pharma fashion, the video definitely takes a turn from reinforced selfishness to a downright dark level of self-reflection.


    



SNL Helps Obama Through Presidential Depression With Paxil Second Term Strength

Most presidents go through a second-term depression, but Obama's has been particularly dismal. To help out, Saturday Night Live has introduced Paxil Second Term Strength, a depression medication for the narrowest target market imaginable: the president of the United States. Paxil Second Term Strength makes you feel like you're giving a speech on a college campus in 2008 or getting Bin Laden all over again. It's even powerful enough to deal with symptoms from Benghazi to that time Jay-Z and Beyoncé went to Cuba. Not a Democrat? No problem. There's also new Paxil Republican Strength for when you have to answer to Congress or the Koch Brothers. It's not the funniest of SNL, but it's worth a chuckle. It also appears to be some excellent product placement, given that Paxil is a real medication with a registered trademark whose packaging and logo were used in the spot—a fact which should be far from depressing for Paxil's brand managers.


    

Monistat Is Sorry (not Sorry) for Making Wearers of ‘Granny Panties’ Feel Bad

Monistat used "granny panties" in a recent ad as a metaphor for how women feel when they have a yeast infection. Now, though, after supposed complaints from the granny-panty-wearing community, Monistat is backtracking. On a new grannypanties.org website, the pharma brand—perhaps inspired by maxipad maker Bodyform's faux contrition—has issued the following heartfelt apology that's anything but heartfelt:

To the makers and wearers of granny panties everywhere, we here at Monistat offer our sincerest apologies.
     By helping millions of women feel like their sexy selves faster, we've seen some unintended repercussions. We have painted your treasured unmentionables in an unflattering light, and as a result, the market for bloomers is dwindling by the day, and the international granny panty industry has fallen on tough times.
     And though there will always be some who choose to allow their undergarments to ride up to their lower back for all to see, this does not mean they should be judged. Their choice of comfort over conformity is a bold one. Those very hip-huggers helped pave the way for the g-strings, thongs, and boyshorts of today.
     But the days of 10-gallon skivvies and support that stretches for yards are coming to an end. And honestly, we're not all that sad to see them go.

Monistat, of course, manufactured both the controversy and the apology. But it's nicely executed by ad agency Allen & Gerritsen. Particularly amusing is the accompanying video on the website depicting a faux talk show, Box Talk with Kitty Montgomery, in which women square off from both sides of the granny-panty debate. Check out the video below.


    

Anacin Maker Working on ‘Bananacin,’ Which Might Just Keep You Alive Forever

It may not be the fountain of youth, but it could keep you from death's door—pretty much indefinitely.

Anacin maker Insight Pharmaceuticals sprang into action this week upon hearing that the newly minted world's oldest man, Salustiano "Shorty" Sanchez-Blazquez, credited his longevity to a daily dose of six Anacin tablets and one banana. The obvious next step? Investigating whether "Bananacin," a banana-flavored Anacin tablet, might be the most powerful elixir for longevity.

"Historically, apples are the fruit most associated with staying healthy and avoiding doctors. Our scientists had never looked into the banana before," Jennifer Moyer, vp of marketing for Insight Pharmaceuticals, says in a tongue-in-cheek press release. "But now that the certified oldest man in the world credits bananas and Anacin as his life-extending combo, we're certainly going to explore whether a new Bananacin product makes sense."

They will do no such thing, of course, but you can't fault them for seizing the opportunity here. "If nothing else, Bananacin sounds delicious!" Moyer gushed. "And it only makes sense that the oldest man in the world recognizes the benefits of Anacin, which is one of the oldest brand pain relievers in the U.S."

Sanchez-Blazquez, a 112-year-old who lives in Grand Island, N.Y., outside Buffalo, was born in 1901 and is now officially recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's oldest man—following the death of Japan's Jiroemon Kimura at age 116 in June.

    

Depression Hurts. Tacos Loaded With Beef and Cheese Can Help

The medicinal benefits of tacos are explained in this parody of antidepressant medication ads, which is a pretty clever piece of work (although trust me, beef sweats are no laughing matter). I can't support the use of fake swear words like "friggin" or "frickin" by adults, though. What, was the writer's mom looking over his shoulder when he wrote this?

Fenistil

Credits:
Advertised brand: FENISTIL
Advert title(s): Tame your irritation (Bee, Caterpillar, Ant #038; Mosquito)
Advertising Agency (Name, City, Country): Saatchi #038; Saatchi Switzerland
Creative Director: John Pallant, Roger Kennedy, Jean-François Fournon
Art Director: Julien de Preux
Copywriter: Kevin Pereira / Daniel Lunn
Illustrator: David Lobser
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Dulcolax Laxative – Boehringer-Ingelheim

manhole-dulcolax-l

Credits:
Client: Dulcolax Laxative / Boehringer-Ingelheim
Title: Manhole
Agency: CBGrey Paris
Executive Creative Director: Andrea Stillacci
Creative Directors: Giovanni Settesoldi/Luissandro Del Gobbo
Art Director: Giovanni Settesoldi
Copywriter: Luissandro Del Gobbo
3D: Baptiste Massé /Mécanique Générale