I was relaxing in my room in Guadalajara, watching an episode of "House" on Mexican cable television, and lo and behold a voiceless advertisement comes on the screen that I found simply incredible. Cheezy background porn music, and a naked couple sitting in what appears to be a jacuzzi hot tub. The jacuzzi bubbles are going in full force. Then the woman slowly gets out of the tub and brings the man still sitting in the jacuzzi an as yet unidentified pill (one thinks that maybe it's an upper or some ecstasy or some other aphrodisiac drug) and a drink. As soon as he downs the pill, the bubbles stop, and the box of Luftal medication appears on the screen at the end of the spot with the words "Elimina los gases," all the while the cheezy porn music is still blaring. It was then that I fully realized with some horror that what was being pitched as a hot and sexy soft porn jacuzzi scene, was actually an advertisement for medicine to control farts. Talk about a romantic thrill killer. What I guess was supposed to be the message -- "Don't let intestinal gas kill your romance" -- had actually the opposite effect. It associated the medication with an instant sex buzz killer -- in other words, the death of sex, not its salvation. When I saw this ad on TV, I just had to hop up immediately and see if I could find it on YouTube. And there it was:
Oh, Mexico! Gotta love this country!
Hey, you made the Daily Dish with this post! I was wondering where I had seen it before.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I noticed. I sometimes send comments and tidbits to Andrew Sullivan, but I almost never make it to the Daily Dish, so I post on my blog the stuff I send to him anyway. I thought he might like this, though. And I'm pleased that it made the Daily Dish along with my comments, edited though they are over there.
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