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Monday
Sep032007

Head On - Straight ahead advertising

Picture_4 The first time I saw the ad for this product I thought it was a joke.  A voice comes on and says "Head On, apply directly to forehead."  Then it comes right back on and repeats the same mantra, not once buy twice more.  That's right: you see the same simple ad three times in a row.  So you can't help but learn two things: (1) the name of the product, and (2) where on your body to apply it. There is, however, no explanation of why you would want to apply it to your forehead.


I doubt I'll ever use HeadOn, but I can't help but admire the zen of
their advertising approach, and its awesome effectiveness.  They kept
their message simple: only two ideas repeated three times with an
obnoxiously commanding voice.  What is HeadOn used for?  Doesn't
matter.  People are buying it in droves and applying it to their
foreheads, just as they have been instructed. 

I'm guessing that it doesn't cure ignorance.

Reader Comments (5)

hilarious. i'm glad somebody decided to say someting about those commercials. but if you go anywhere in the country, everybody knows exactly what you're talking about. simple yet effective

they also have products for joint pain, scar tissue, and itch relief, in case you're interested. I bet you can figure out how to use them, without even seeing the commercials!

i enjoy your blog, try to keep up with it as often as i can. geaux saints.
September 5 | Unregistered Commenterbarby
It's "homeopathic" in the literal definition of the term. It's "treating like with like" under an extreme dilution - dilution by a factor of 10^30 according to the movements founder, Hahnemann. Head on is literally 99.91% wax, 0.04% White Bryony and 0.05% Potassium dichromate. They've been instructed by the Better Business Bureau they are not allowed to say it cures head aches.

I was forced to write a research paper on homeopathic remedies in law school for a law professor who believed in the stuff, unfortunately I could not swallow my logic long enough to suck up to him. Homeopathy coincidentally works with exactly the same success rate as a placebo. Go figure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeadOn
September 6 | Unregistered CommenterAaron
Head on bothers me. Their other products are annoying too. "Active on. Apply directly where it hurts. Active on apply directly where it hurts."

"Head-on: I hate your commercial; but I LOVE your product." is the most annoying part of the commercial. Seriously, the woman they got for that comes straight out of the 80's, and looks like the girlfriend from Clerks. Could they possibly have picked a more unattractive woman with a more annoying voice? I doubt it.

Dan- wikilaw.blogspot.com
September 17 | Unregistered CommenterDan
What I really loved about the ad was it's timeliness in connection with the French soccer player Zidane! I found this wonderful advertisement for Head-On with Zidane. It can be found here: What a laugh!
this stuff really WORKS and I don't care whythe ads are simple and true
April 9 | Unregistered CommenterKat

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