For Thicker, Less Disgusting Hair
September 21st, 2010 | Mike
With the start of the NFL season we always get a fresh batch of Troy Polamalu and his Head and Shoulders Shampoo commercials. This year they’ve really kicked it up a notch.
Their latest TV spot guarantees thicker looking hair in one week. Sounds pretty good to me. But the disclaimer states that this is a guarantee based on using Head and Shoulders vs. not washing your hair. Let me see if I have this straight: their claim is that their product is superior to nothing?
Don’t me wrong, I would kill a man to have hair like Troy Polamalu — and I think I could pull off that look — but this seems a little misleading. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say I believe a large bottle of Head and Shoulders is more expensive than nothing. This makes me want to read all disclaimers a little more closely.
When Ivory soap says their product will make me feel clean and smell better, is that compared to not bathing? When a car company says their cars are safe, is that compared to cars with sticky accelerators and no brakes? From what I recall, when they did the Pepsi Challenge it was comparing the taste of Pepsi to the taste of Coke, not Pepsi vs. an empty cup.
And thicker looking hair is a little ambiguous, isn’t it? I’d buy fluffier looking, but I could argue that unwashed, filthy, matted hair can look kind of thick. And dense. And disgusting.
In an attempt to inject a little truth in advertising, I took the liberty of creating a few possible ad slogans for Head and Shoulders:
Better than nothing.®
Smell like you’ve bathed recently!®
Troy Polamalu has good hygiene habits, and so should you.®
For people who wash their hair at least once a week or somewhat regularly.®