by: Ilya Vedrashko
AdAge: "The HeadOn, apply directly to the forehead spots (YouTube) are arguably among the worst commercials ever from a creative standpoint. They're annoying, repetitive, obnoxious -- and effective."
Apply directly to cash register: "HeadOn is logging some heady growth rates -- 234% from 2005 to 2006. And for the first half of 2007, the brand looks to be on track to double sales. HeadOn ranks No. 9 in the external-analgesics-rubs category and logged $6.5 million in sales last year, up from just $1.9 million in 2005, according to Information Resources Inc."
USA Today last year: "The campaign may have gotten some unintentional help from the Council of Better Business Bureaus. In March, its National Advertising Division challenged earlier ads that said HeadOn provides "fast, safe, effective" headache relief. The organization said it recommended that Miralus discontinue the claims after it "provided insufficient evidence" to show HeadOn works.
If Miralus had not complied, the Better Business Bureau would have forwarded the case to the Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission, which could have ordered the ads off the air and fined the company. Now that HeadOn no longer makes any promises."
Original Post: http://adverlab.blogspot.com/2007/09/headon-spots-effective-in-driving-sales.html
Yes, they are so annoying but I think that they work in the States (where I spend about half my time) as they stand out in a sdea of sameness so they stop you and it is impossible to not remember what they are for. Helped by a brand name that does what it says.
They seem though to have fallen into a trap of thinking that the device of repeating the name over and over is the idea and so all their new products use the same technique and be interesting to see if the format starts to be less effective as they start to make the format the norm...