Diarrhea Of The Ads

Yep. That's a picture of diarrhea medicine. What's it doing here on this blog? Ahh...great question.

I've seen the same ad for Imodium two times now - hanging on the wall of a restroom, in two different restaurants.

I decided not to mention it the first time I saw it - I thought I would spare everyone. But now, I just can't refrain.

The add pictures an empty roll of toilet paper and a headline that reads: "Spending more time in here than at your table?"

Given the fact that I was at a Cuban restaurant, with my in-laws no less, this ad was aptly placed. And clever enough, too. Great job creative team.

But y'all missed something (in my humble opinion). A call to action and a response mechanism. It would have been so simple:

"Visit www.spendmoretimeatyourtable.com to receive a certificate for a free sample of immodium."

Of course, then the agency would have to answer up to the results, which they probably wouldn't have wanted to do - so instead they failed to create any way to know if the ad is working or not.

Even if they were afraid to use a trackable mechanism, they could have at least said: "Available at CVS, Walgreens, Publix, & Wal-Mart. Instant relief from just $1.99 - guaranteed."

But instead the ad just leaves it up to chance that you may remember their name when it comes time to get that precious relief. Bad call in my estimation.

Oh, I almost forgot...down in the bottom corner, at 10 pt font (literally) is printed www.imodium.com.

Wow! How generous. I just wonder, why are people so afraid to give any sort of call to action? Why do people feel so limited to catchy, clever one-liners?

I may never understand it. But one thing is for sure...seeing this ad multiple times has not induced me and any way to believe their brand is somehow better than any other brand. And that seems to be the only point of the ad. Better luck next time.

 

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