The latest from DTC Perspectives

The Rooster? Better Than the Beaver?

I recently saw these odd 15 second television commercials with a rooster harassing people trying to sleep. The rooster annoys innocent sleepers by calling them in the middle of the night, setting off their car alarm, playing drums, using a hair dryer, vacuuming and playing basketball. The spots are unbranded and end with the tag line “silence your rooster.”

Sanofi-Aventis is using the unbranded spots to get people to a website that then promotes sleep aid Ambien. The television spots are quite amusing, albeit odd. Of course nothing was quite as odd as Lincoln and the beaver from Rozerem.  Ambien is clearly trying to use the Rozarem strategy of getting publicity and buzz from the television spots leading to web visits and word of mouth.

I applaud Sanofi-Aventis for trying to break through the recent trend of safe, formulaic DTC ads. Ambien marketers must have seen something in the Rozerem spots they found intriguing and appealing. A mysterious rooster is a nice future icon for extended use across all media. It is also fairly easy to interpret once you realize it is for Ambien. It takes a little less psychology training to understand than did Lincoln and the beaver. The use of unbranded spots also saves Ambien media money versus standard branded ads. If they can get website visits for less per visit than using a branded 30 or 60 second spot, so much the better.

The use of the darkly comedic rooster may arouse the wrath of Congressional watchers who recoil from uses of non-serious spokespeople or in this case spokesfoul. One must admit the mischievous rooster does not have the scientific credentials of the usual DTC on-camera doctor. So, expect the usual criticisms about making drug products less serious. Remember this is the drug that supposedly caused Congressman Kennedy to crash his car into a Capitol wall at 3 in the morning.

I assume Ambien marketers debated the fallout potential from using the rooster and decided it was worth the risk. The rooster will not likely have to appear to testify in front of Dingell and Stupak although he might make more sense than many Congressmen.  Will the rooster do more for Ambien sales than the beaver did for Rozerem? That is the question. I am sure all the ad critics will be watching to congratulate or vilify Ambien marketers depending on which way the pill sales go.

I am fine with the new campaign. It is cute, buzz worthy, and expandable. I would not use such an approach for a cancer drug, but for a well-accepted sleep aid I have no problem.