Remember that phrase from the mid-1980s Vicks 44 commercials — “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.”
There were two versions of that commmercial that I recall – both with soap opera actors (a quick web search reminded me the actors were Peter Bergman of All My Children and Chris Robinson of General Hospital). Both actors said that famous line, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV,” and consumers everywhere were expected to think that acting like a doctor on a soap opera gave them some kind of special authority to recommend an over the counter cough medicine. Looking back, the only surprising thing was that it worked.
Do you think a similar direct claim like that would work with today’s more jaded and less gullible consumer audience? If an actor from a soap opera used that famous line today, would consumers listen or would they laugh?
Marketing messages have had to change a lot over the past 20 years to keep up with changing consumers. Take a look at your current marketing and ad campaigns. Are you speaking to consumers like it’s 1986 or 2009?
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
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I think that if the cast of Grey’s Anatomy appeared in an ad (as Doctors) it would be an effective endorsement. Obviously, they’re actors, but since the show has credibility in the mind of the audience, so do the actors.
Advertising has changed so much since 1986. Yes, we’ve become move impatient and better tuned at detecting bullshit, but the creative has evolved as well. Any ad with a conventional “jingle” is perceived as old-fashioned, and the classic notion of voiceover has gone bye-bye. These days, we want mini stories, we want to connect with the characters in the ad, even for 20 seconds. They’re not selling us, they’re telling us.
There are a few exceptions that never get old. Foldger’s still replays the “Peter” ad where the long-lost son returns home on a crisp winter morning. And we’ve recently seen the revival of Hefty’s repetitive (albeit, powerful) slogan of “HEFTY HEFTY HEFTY, wimpy wimpy wimpy.” I think folks would still respond to the bluntness of some of the classic ads — one that comes to mind is the Mineke ads, “I’m not gonna pay a lot for this muffler!”
There was an ad that aired recently that had a similar concept. It featured Neil Patrick Harris. I believe it was an Old Spice ad, featuring Neil Patrick Harris.
OK. That explains it. During the 1980’s I couldn’t get television reception where I lived, so I missed the commercials, as well as the shows. So when someone recently said, “I’m not an auditor, but I play one on TV” and I said, “What???”, he sent me to this web page.
I believe when you come across a classic, like HEFTY HEFTY HEFTY, it sticks, These days, particularly since January of this year, buying trash bags is more of an economic consideration than a performance one. But if the slogan fits the situation, you bring it out and use it. Same is true for movies as well as commercials. “Win 0ne for the Gipper” or “Play it again, Sam” are just two samples of movie phrases that have become catch-phrases. But whatever you do, just be careful you don’t “shoot your eye out!”
KB, I love the “Christmas Story” reference! 🙂