Wow! Ad Wednesday

Wow! Wednesday is right. These guys are frolicking and saving money! And if you ran this ad these days, you could run it under the guys guise of being very “green” or “enviroinmentally conscious”, rather than the more obvious, “homoerotic“.

Doc Ad, we are begging the question, “Why did they put their heads together?” And what on earth is so darned funny? Let us in on the joke, please.

Some say he’s impervious to Brain Freeze.  Other’s believe he made up Brain Freeze just to shill a cinnamon-flavored gum as a cure, but then never got around to it.  No matter, he kicks ad and he’s on the case.  Ladies and gentleman, put your hands together for your D O C T O R   A D V E R T I S I N G !

As a doctor I will tell you straight off the bat, I am glad that this is only a half page ad. The Hays Decency Code only came about for the movies in 1932; for advertising, well there hasn’t been one yet (witness the Spice Girls Pepsi ads of the early ’90s).  And the way that guy on the bottom-right is looking at the guy on the bottom-left… it just isn’t decent.

So here is how I see this one going down…

1.       Schools, gyms, YMCAs, etc. complain of spending so much money installing individual showers in the locker room facilities, so Bradley comes up with a better way: Group Showers.  Hell, it worked for the Greeks.  Engineering and Manufacturing get the product developed, and Sales is ready to expose the public, so they call Madison Ave.

2.       The agency sees the goods, and quickly becomes excited about the project.  The brief goes something like this: “Individual showers cost big money, but Bradley Group Showers cost less, and bring back the fun of men showering together.”  With the agency fully briefed, the Creative Department began pumping out some ideas.

3.       On the presentation day, the agency is brandishing some impressive pieces, but the winner is “We put our heads together”.  They ‘ve hit the motherlode. It features a nice double-entendre headline (or is it a triple?) along with an action shot of four gents laughing it up as they lather it off.  No need for body copy or additional info, just throw in a “BRADLEY GROUP SHOWERS”, and set the Media folks loose on putting it in every possible space.

I think the agency shows considerable restraint by not recommending something like…

·         Don’t drop your wallet when your patrons are dropping the soap.

·         These guys know the naked truth; group showering is more fun and cost less.

·         Bradley Group Showers: Because guys like to shower facing each other.

Alright, I’ve had my fun.  I’ve probably been very insensitive, but come on.  I was provoked.  This ad would never run today because no client would allow the word “heads” to be included in an ad with a bunch of naked guys – and guys who appear to be having way too much fun. 

Anyway, in today’s world it would need a URL; maybe something like headstogether.org or groupshowerfun.gov.

Enough. 

It’s hard to stop poking fun at this one.

Really, enough.

Ok, I prescribe replacing the four happy dudes with six super-happy gals… now we have a winner!

Doc Ad has left the building.

About these ads