Today I found out the most bizarre advertising campaign ever is more surreal than I first thought. If you've seen any of the ads for the new wonder pill Rozerem and you're anything like me, you've probably been saying to yourself, "What in the hell do Abraham Lincoln and a groundhog have to do with the treatment of my medical problems?" I am not making this up. A marketing drone plugging away somewhere thought that the man who had what was probably the least tranquil administration in American history combined with a large rodent would be a good way to sell a sleeping aid, then managed to sell the idea to Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
I foolishly assumed the rodent was a groundhog, because they are famous for sleeping all winter, then having some retard human wake them up in February to ask them when the weather is going to get warmer. Sleeping pill, sleeping groundhog, right?
Nope. I found out today from a sales rep slightly more helpful than this one that the rodent is actually a beaver. I think a beaver is still a rodent. I'm not sure, and I don't feel like looking it up right now. What I do know is that in contrast to the sleepy groundhog, a beaver's claim to fame is it's reputation for being "busy," felling trees, building dams, that kind of thing.
This busy, hardworking animal, who by the way in the ads is something of a smartass, is supposed to make you want to buy a sleeping product, along with the man who presided over a war in which over 373,000 people died. I'll bet that made Lincoln sleep really well at night.
Surely there's something I'm not getting here.
10 comments:
I thought it was a groundhog too...the more confusing question is what kind of loser has dreams about playing chess with Abraham Lincoln and a beaver? if my dreams were that boring I would never sleep
I've been getting reports of print ads where the beaver is offering the prospective pill taker a bouquet of flowers. This is only getting weirder and weirder.....
Hahaha, beaver
Is there an internet link to this ad?
I heard about Rozerem last year... Is it as really as groundbreaking re: lack of dependency as they say it is?
dan
I put a link in the original post to rozerem's website so you could get a taste of the bizarreness. Click on the word "rozerem" in the first paragraph.
I saw that ad and the first thing I thought of is what you were going to say about it. :-) It didn't take long.
What I've heard, is that the theory behind the ad is that Rozerem is so long-acting that you will wake up in either 4 score and 7 years, or whenever you see your shadow.
But, I've been known to be wrong.
Ha, watched that, definitely worth a laugh... especially the beaver...
In the ad, they didn't mention anything about pharmacy at all...
see your doctor this, see your doctor that...
Talk about one minute counselling, they make the pill sound so harmless... mmm, DTC advertising
I wanna know why there's a deep sea diver in the background of the commercial, I didn't even notice it until the third time I saw the commercial.
the first and dougs post has me LMAO...but really the beaver looks like it needs a good dose caster oil...he looks constipated to all get out...poor beavie...
Beavers are nocturnal...i.e. active at night...
The beaver in this commercial is representative of sex and Lincoln is representative of money. Since dead presidents are on money and beavers...well are known as something else besides critters with big teeth.
The reason they chose the 2 characters is because the main things people dream about are money and sex. That's why they say they miss the guy who isn't sleeping. Because he's not dreaming of them.
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