Regular readers of my blog know the special place I hold in my heart for the pharma side of advertising. Any category has good and bad work in it, but the limits placed on pharma by the government affect the look and feel like nothing else. All pharmaseutra brainstorms usually end up in an orgy of medaphors: “Can’t say power, but we can say strength. No, can’t say strength, but we can say long-lasting. NO? Damn. Okay, what about mild. Can we say mild? No, (Brand X) owns that. SHIT.” And so on.
The fair balance info that needs to accompany ads is worse than anything you’ll find in financial or automotive work, but more importantly, the government watches over how things are worded and what you can claim. This is so you are not duped in :30 seconds into making a life or death choice. Ironically, what FB doesn’t protect consumers from is the real stuff that matters: Product recalls or misleading ads by brands like Yaz.
No, today it really sucks because this Viagra spot in Canada from Taxi and The Perlorian Brothers shows how good pharma work could be if we would just lose all the legal requirements.
They must have had to jump a few hurdles though because it’s borderline, seeing how only the U.S. and New Zealand allow direct to consumer (DTC) advertising with the aforementioned legalities. (Canada is in the middle of that fight and has been for some time.)
The ad walks a line because while it’s branded with a quick logo at the end, it can do that since it’s not making a claim about the real medical condition, and, it’s also parodying the “symptoms” of other pharma spots you typically see. Very good play and furthermore, it’s an indirect poke at the handcuffs American agencies have on them.
No, the best we got is a C&W band in a Nashville studio singing Elvis covers at one in the morning.
