A Date With Brad, Wherein He Discusses Your Period. Yes, You’re Dreaming.

August 30, 2010 By David Burn 3 Comments

This “virtual date” brought to you by Johnson & Johnson and BBDO Toronto.

About David Burn

I wrote my first ad for a local political candidate when I was 17 (she went on to win her race, and I felt the power of persuasive copy for the first time). Today, I live near Portland, Oregon and spend my days building brands for companies that matter.

http://www.copywriter.dreamhost.com Robert Moss

Hey, I’m not the demographic but I liked this sort of thing a lot better when Fallon did it for Brawny Towels a few years ago.
This seems like “let’s play the sensitivity card (2 cookbooks, one for your mom!)” just to step out of character at the end and make a hard sell for pads. The Brawny Guy stayed in character throughout.
Are you buying it?
http://www.adpulp.com/ David Burn

@RobertMoss – I agree that the transition to “Brad’s” rap on feminine products is a rough one, but the entire piece is so over-the-top, it’s almost like nothing could be too out of order here, since it’s all a farce.
http://www.copywriter.dreamhost.com Robert Moss

David, Over the top? It’s more like an ad spoof on SNL than something to persuade real people to buy real things. Instead of empathy, it shows a high level of cynicism; the character pretends to be the most caring man in the world before hammering the viewer over the head with a hard sell. At least a P&G hard sell doesn’t pretend to be otherwise.
So far the comments I’ve read today elsewhere are negative.
Brand Channel: Brand Trainwrecks: Date Night With Stayfree? Er, No Thanks
Salon: Can men sell maxi pads? Stayfree is betting on it with a series of spots featuring absurd caricatures of female fantasy BTW, check out the comments there.
Back to the Brawny Guy campaign several years ago, it artfully balanced sensitivity and tongue-in-cheekness without any hardsell, and was a far better campaign for it.