D-Dogg and I saw this a few weeks ago and said "WTF?". Apparently, now it is a phenomenon.
http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...ead-On-ON.html
HeadOn commercial hits parody circuit
Theresa Howard
USA Today
Jul. 31, 2006 08:06 AM
NEW YORK - While lots of advertisers spend big bucks to get people talking about their products, a homeopathic migraine headache remedy called HeadOn has just become a pop culture phenomenon with a simple - and, frankly, bizarre - television ad.
The spot, which began airing in June, shows a woman rubbing what appears to be a glue stick across her forehead. A bright yellow arrow points to the application area, and an announcer hypnotically repeats three times: "HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead."
That's it. The announcer says it's a nonprescription product available at retail stores. But there's nothing about what HeadOn does. advertisement
While it has been available for a year, the ad tag line became an in-joke when it began to run on cable, late-night television, and syndicated shows including "Wheel of Fortune," "Jeopardy!," "Dr. Phil," "Live with Regis and Kelly," and "Seinfeld."
Now, parodies appear on Web sites including YouTube.com. Rapper Lil Jon loops it into a musical riff. And "Make," a technophile magazine, described how to turn it into a ring tone.
"We did not intend to make a joke out of this or a parody," says Dan Charron, vice president of sales and marketing for HeadOn's maker, Plantation, Fla.-based Miralus Healthcare. "All we are trying to do is create brand awareness."
It worked. HeadOn sales are up 50 percent since April, he says.
The campaign may have gotten some unintentional help from the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
In March, its National Advertising Division challenged earlier ads that said HeadOn provides "fast, safe, effective" headache relief. The organization said it recommended that Miralus discontinue the claims after it "provided insufficient evidence" to show HeadOn works.
If Miralus had not complied, the Better Business Bureau would have forwarded the case to the Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission, which could have ordered the ads off the air and fined the company.
Now that HeadOn no longer makes any promises, "It makes for unusual advertising," says Andrea Levine, the National Advertising Division's director. "But it complies."
Cheesy production values also help.
"Part of the charm is that it is so crude," says Dina Mayzlin, assistant professor of marketing at Yale School of Management. "The ad stands out in its repetitiveness. It's intriguing and breaks through the clutter."
Beverly Baker, 80, of East Moline, Ill., agrees. The ad "is annoying as hell, it will drive you crazy," she says. "But that's what made me take notice of it."
HeadOn has an ad budget estimated at as much as $30 million, and the spot is scheduled to run through Aug. 13.
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