1. Introduction
Below are presented the reviews of commercial of most popular over the counter drugs. The commercial were found on YouTube, but they have been produced for TV mainly.
2. Commercial reviews
Commercial 1 - Zyrtec (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq3W6TvCB74)
Zyrtec is very popular allergy relief drug, which is sold at pharmacies without prescription. This is one of their newest commercials. It's target is all potential allergy relief users, i.e. people who suffer from different kinds of allergies (food, animal, dust, etc.) and need the drug in order to get rid of allergy symptoms. So, there is no specific segmentation of the target by gender and age and it is based on the health problem, which is the allergy.
The commercial looks very artificial, since it does not really represent standard life situation. Colleges seem to have unnatural dialogue; the guy does not seem to be allergic. I personally would not be persuaded by the commercial, since it did not really explain what the drug really does. They concentrate on the fact that Zyrtec may be taken with orange juice and stress it so that it sounds as the main benefit of the product. If one does not listen to the dialogue, he may even think that the commercial advertises the orange juice.
And last but most important point on why I would not buy Zyrtec, is the unethical approach they have chosen. Zyrtec is compared to its direct competitor Allegra, which has the same target, and says that Allegra cannot be taken with orange juice. To me, this is not fair competitive approach and a brand does not have a right to show its competitor in bad light in its commercials.
Commercial 2 – Tylenol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zeFnhEShk)
Tylenol is an OTC drug against headache. Its target are people, who suffer from headaches and migraines so often that it influences their life in negative way.
The commercial is very positive and friendly. It is pleasant to watch since it has lots of smiles, sunshine and family and nature scenes. The slogan ''get back to normal'' may be very effective for someone who suffers from headaches and can have spoiled Saturday because of that. It is quite persuasive and to my mind will be able to get people try the drug, since the commercial leaves a hope that by Tylenol's help one will go back to the positive atmosphere described in the ad.
Commercial 3 – Mucinex (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsczaqEiarI&feature=related)
Mucinex is OTC drug against cough. As mentioned on its box it thins, loosens mucus and relieves chest congestions. It has long lasting 12 hour relief.
The commercial will most probably affect people, who have cough at the moment they are watching it. At the same time, repetitive viewing if the commercial will make people remember drug's name and buy it once they get the bad cough.
It did persuade me because the commercial vividly showed how the drug works. One can imagine the mucus sitting in the chest and as a result of the drug being chased away from there. The commercial shows to people, who do not have medical mind drug's function in a very simple way.
Commercial 4 – Advil (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtQG9RGECQc)
This commercial was a non-standard one, since its target was Tylenol users. In short, the commercial was targeting its main competitor's market and urging Tylenol users to make the switch to Advil.
They show different people (age, gender, etc.), who have presumingly switched already. A woman from Chicago makes testimonial and says that before she took Tylenol, but now she switched to Advil since it is ''fast and reliable''.
I am not persuaded at all, since I am very skeptical about testimonials and think that all the people in the commercial may have been actors, who were paid to pose and speak. Also, I think it is completely unethical and against fair competition rules, to target direct competitor's market with straightforward call to switch to their product.
Advil commercial left the most negative impression from all the above.
