First, listen to their “evidence” that the product is so effective:
(SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read this before listening to the audio.)
Uh, guys? “Effectiveness” is not a consideration for being included in a celebrity swag bag.
An honest rewrite would say, “Because we paid them to, international film festivals included our product in their VIP gift bags.”
Comments on this entry are closed.
Most ads are written by people who’ve never worked behind a microphone or even when they try to write something clever, all the client wants is a “midnight madness, door crashing sale”.
Cringe-worthy. I remember watching that ad and screaming Sicilian curses at the tv.
–BTW, Dan — for some reason, I can’t unzip your copy writing seminar. Bummerooski :o(
Indeed, but how many idiots out there will believe it?
key phrase…”GIVEN away”
John hit the nail on the head… Here is the HUGE problem though. As sad as it is, this claim WILL sell this product to its target demo which is clearly 12 – 34 females. They will hear “Celebrities use this product” and they will buy it. Idiotic? YES. Quite possibly effective? Unfortunately. We live in a society where being like celebrities is more important than anything else. This makes me sad…
indeed it makes me sad also Tad, but you’re right, and likely why the copy point was put in the spot….
I have to admit, I heard that on the radio, thought it was idiotic, and then went back to the maxim that radio is more effective emotionally than it is intellectually, and thought: Wow. Celebrities are using this stuff. Maybe I should buy some.
I’ve decided that any product spelling beginning with H-Y-D-R-O-X has to mean an immense pile of bull-poopey. Therefore, a less-than-honest line in any advertisement surprises me not at all. ;(
Oh, come now, Guy. The Sunshine Hydrox is a fine cookie. And it’s kosher, which the Oreo cannot claim due to the inclusion of lard in its recipe. (Trivia: Hydrox preceded the Oreo by four years, yet continues to suffer from the perception of being a knockoff of Oreo.) Uh, what were we talking about?
Hydrox cookies have actually been off the market and unavailable for years. Sunshine Bakeries, was sold to Keebler and they in turn were sold to Kelloggs. Somewhere along the way they decided that Hydrox wasn’t competing well enough with Oreos and pulled the plug on the brand.
One of the main reasons why Hydrox cookies never really caught on (even though they tasted a lot better than Oreos – the chocolate in Hydrox was sweeter) was the stupid name. The original owner of Sunshine thought that combining Hydrogen and Oxygen (the chemicals of air) into the name would demonstrate the “purity of our cookies”. Now there’s real advertising GENIUS!