Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S8E14 - Disgustingly Effective: Marketing of Bodily Functions

Episode Date: April 4, 2019

Do you know which mascot is the most recognized but least liked on TV? This week, we look at disgusting but effective advertising mascots. Fun, cuddly characters that personify our bodily functions the way human actors never could. But they all have one thing in common: they’re disgustingly lucrative. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling. Subscribe now and don't miss a single beat. We'll see you next time. new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. From the Under the Influence digital box set, this episode is from Season 8, 2019.

You're not you when you're hungry. You're a good hand with all things. You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. During the Tudor era, one of the most sought-after positions in the king's court was groom of the stool. It was an unusual occupation. The responsibilities of the groom of the stool were to undress the king, provide water and cotton towels, then stand beside the king as his majesty did his business. While history is a little vague on this point, it appears the groom of the stool's duties also included wiping

the royal posterior. If you think this job couldn't get any more disgusting, it was also the groom's task to inspect the king's bowel movements to conduct an ongoing assessment of the king's health. Now, you may be thinking the groom

of the stool was named after the king's stools. Not so. The stool part of the job title referred to the king's stool singular, which was a velvet-lined portable potty called a close stool. The groom

carried the king's stool around at all times to make sure it was handy should nature call. The first groom of the stool appeared in 1495 during King Henry VII's time. When King Henry VIII sat on the throne, he elevated the status of the job by confiding in the groom and even asking for advice on particularly tricky royal problems. That status made the groom of the stool

very powerful in the king's court. He knew the king's private thoughts and many of his secrets. It wasn't long before others around the king realized the groom had a unique access to the monarch. People would pass messages to the groom hoping he would pass them along to the monarch. People would pass messages to the groom hoping he would pass them along to the king. The groom of the stool not only became respected,

but feared, as he could influence the king's opinion. After all, they had a lot of alone time together as the king conducted his royal business. Before long, the groom of the stool became very well paid, received many of the king's expensive clothes as hand-me-downs, and was given special lodging in all the king's castles. Over time,

the position became highly sought after, as many men would fall over themselves for the chance to be in charge of the king's stool. If you wanted to make your way up the ladder in the royal kingdom, being groom of the king's stool. If you wanted to make your way up the ladder in the royal kingdom, being groom of the stool was disgustingly effective. There is an entire category of marketing that is disgustingly effective.

Those are the products that deal with the more delicate of our bodily functions, like constipation, diarrhea, acid reflux, and mucus. They are difficult subjects to talk about in AdLand, but many brands have found a solution. They create fun, cuddly mascots to personify the bodily functions. And they all have one thing in common. They are disgustingly lucrative. You're under the influence. In 1928, a pharmacist by the name of Jim Howe

was searching for a remedy for his wife's indigestion. He wasn't having much luck, so he headed down to his basement to see what he could put together using his own ingredients. It was there he invented a formula that neutralized his wife's stomach acid. He shaped it into tablets, and the couple kept them in a mason jar. Later, on a cruise, Howe's wife shared the contents of the mason jar with fellow passengers struggling to digest their cruise ship meals. They were a hit. Two years later in 1930, Howe's tablets became commercially available.

He held a contest with a local radio station to name his product. A nurse called in and won the contest, calling them Tums for the Tummy. The first national ads for Tums appeared in the 1950s. Next time you go shopping, get Tums for the Tummy. Still only 10 cents a roll, three rolls for 25 cents. 30 years later, Tums was the number one antacid product on the market. The famous ominous Tums jingle was created in 1981. Now, jump ahead to 2010.

That year marked the brand's 80th anniversary. Tums wanted a fresh angle and maybe to even inject its advertising with a little humor. So a brand new campaign was created called Food Fight. A series of ads shows people about to take a bite of their favorite heartburn-inducing foods when the food begins to actually fight them. In one ad, a man tries eating a chicken wing when it suddenly comes to life

and begins slapping him in the face. Your favorite food's fighting you. Fight back fast with Tums. Then, the familiar jingle kicks in. Fight heartburn fast. Heartburn isn't always caused by indulgent high-fat foods like bacon or cheeseburgers, as many antacid commercials suggest.

Instead, Tums wanted to show that heartburn affects average people eating average meals. Like in another commercial, where a backyard barbecuer finds himself being slapped around by a giant, headless, barbecued chicken. Heartburn and acid reflux aren't pleasing primetime subjects. But while the imagery of being smacked around repeatedly by food and getting covered in tomato sauce is a little gross, using humor takes the sting out of the moment. Disgusting, but effective.

It's also amazing to note Tom still uses its original jingle nearly 40 years later. The brand is still popular today, and it's probably one of the first antacids you can name. A testament to a consistent 40-year message and an ability to leverage humor in acid indigestion. They say by the time you're an octogenarian, you've probably suffered through about 200 colds. And you're in a show! But the drugstore medication shelves are overflowing with options. You may only need them two to three times a year, but when you do, you'll probably choose a well-advertised brand.

As a result, the over-the-counter cold remedy industry is a tough advertising category. And sneezing, coughing, and congestion aren't exactly delightful bodily functions. So, in 2004, cold and flu brand Mucinex launched a $22 million campaign to get people thinking about their phlegm. They did it by creating a mascot. They called him Mr. Mucus. Mr. Mucus is a raspy-voiced, slimy, green chunk of phlegm with arms and legs, wearing a stained, midriff-bearing tank top and suspenders. He burrows into your lungs and makes

himself at home in a Barca lounger watching TV until Mucinex slides down and flushes him out. I love moving in day. Nice try, but I'm not going nowhere. That's when you need Mucinex. Mucinex is specially made to break up the mucus that causes congestion.

Uh-oh. There goes the neighborhood! Ah, that's better. An amusing way to treat phlegm. Mucinex in, mucus out. The next year, Mr. Mucus met his bride and co-star of the subsequent ads, Mrs. Mucus. Adweek magazine described her as, quote, just as large, green, and irritating as her new husband.

One ad showed slimy Mrs. Mucus doing housework inside a pair of lungs. When mucus causes chest congestion, it can get in the way of your day. It's not easy keeping a place to look at, Miss Spiffy. Maximum Strength Mucinex breaks up the mucus that causes chest congestion. By 2006, Mucinex climbed to number four in the cold and flu category, capturing 5% of the market share. Two years later, the brand's annual growth had doubled since the Mr. Mucus debut in 2004.

All was going well until 2014, when Mucinex in 2004. All was going well, until 2014, when Mucinex received some surprising news. Mr. Mucous was one of the most recognized mascots, but he was also the least liked. So that year, Mr. Mucous got a bit of a makeover. They gave him a wetter, more 3D appearance and toned down his New York accent,

opting for a slightly gentler voice. Mike! Janet! Cough, if you can hear me. Don't even think about it. I took Mucinex DM for my phlegmy cough. Yeah, but what about Mike? He has that dry, scratchy thing going on.

Guess what? It works on his cough, too. But Mr. Mucus also took on a new role outside the human body, plucking him out of people's lungs and into the real world. Like in this commercial, where he sits beside someone on an airplane, a place where so many of us fall prey to germs. So how you doing? Enough pressure in here for you? My sinuses are killing me. Yeah, just wait till we hit 10,000 feet. I'm going to take Mucinex Sinus Max. Too late. We're about to take off. These dissolve fast. They're liquid gels. Then in 2018, Mucinex discovered a shocking statistic. The Monday after Super Bowl 52, 13.9 million people were likely to call in sick to work making it the biggest sick day of the year.

It was dubbed Super Sick Day. So Mucinex saw an opportunity and released this ad showing a bunch of defeated sports fans. It's post-game in America, America. Game's over, party's over. And right about now, millions of you are thinking about calling in sick to work tomorrow. One small problem with that. You won't really be sick at all.

You'll be faking it. Shame on you, America. At that moment, a big box of Mucinex falls from the sky and squashes him. Then the line reads, Enjoy your sick day, America. When you're really sick, take Mucinex. Hashtag super sick day. Mr. Mucus is green, drippy, and abrasive.

And yet, you can go online and purchase plush toy versions of him, Mrs. Mucus, and their little mukelet offspring. They're a disgusting but effective little family of antiheroes. The second most common ailment that causes people to miss work, besides the common cold, is IBS. Irritable bowel syndrome is said to affect somewhere between 10 and 15% of the population. And by the way, that's around a billion people worldwide. And yet the symptoms of IBS, like gas, bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, are so unsavory that they're rarely discussed, let alone in advertising. A fact one brand saw as an opportunity. Three years ago, IBS medication Viberzi decided to

tackle the taboo head-on. And they did so in the form of a spunky, spandex-laden character named Iridebel. But Iridebel wasn't animated. She was played by actress Ilana Becker. Iridebel is an exception to the rule. She's a human character dressed in a flesh-toned unitard with a curly red wig and an image of intestines covering her stomach. And, just like IBS, Iridebel pops up at the worst possible times. Like in her first appearance in 2016, where she showed up right before one woman was about

to meet up with her friends. Hey, where are you going? We've got that thing. You know, diarrhea, abdominal pain. But we said we'd be there. Look, who makes the decisions around here? It's me. Don't think I'll make it.

Stomach again. Send. See you on the couch. It's movie night. Wow! If you're living with frequent, unpredictable diarrhea and abdominal pain, you may have irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea or IBSD, a condition that can be really frustrating. Talk to your doctor about Viberzi, a different with diarrhea or IBSD, a condition that can be really frustrating.

Talk to your doctor about Viberzi, a different way to treat IBSD. But it's the second half of the ad that makes Irritabelle so memorable. Once the long list of medical disclaimers begin, Irritabelle's personality really shines. She can be seen dancing around the woman, even playing air drums with a pair of tongue depressors at the doctor's office. After the woman has been prescribed Viberzi, she and Iridabel can be seen walking along the beach together and even riding a tandem bike. Imagery that intentionally mocks typical medical advertising clichés.

In another ad, a couple is climbing into bed on their anniversary night when Irritabelle hops in between them and says, Remember our special night? Abdominal pain and diarrhea. It's my anniversary. Oh, sorry. We've got other plans. She's disruptive

and amusing. Interesting to note, the brand chose a female character for the role of Irritabel because the majority of IBS patients are women. Becker said she knew she wanted the part the first time she saw the script, having dealt with digestive issues herself. She auditioned for the role via Skype, but she was smart about it. She auditioned from her bathroom. And she's since become a sensation, even speaking at gastroenterology conferences.

Studies show that IBS patients are embarrassed by their symptoms, which may be why two-thirds of patients wait more than a year before seeking treatment. Viberzi used Irritabel to make the symptoms of IBS a little more palatable for a television audience and to get people to the doctor sooner. And it appears they did. The brand saw an estimated 660% increase in sales only eight months after the campaign launched. Because disruptive plus amusing equals memorable. Just like another disgusting mascot that waddled its way into Super Bowl 2016. And we'll be right back after this message. The 2016 Super Bowl contained most of the usual advertisers, including beer, cars,

soft drinks, and potato chips. But there were a surprising number of commercials for diarrhea and its opposite problem, constipation. So many, in fact, Adweek magazine dubbed it the Super Bowel. One of those $5 million commercials dealt with the not-so-fun topic of diarrhea. Most Super Bowl commercials are fun and try to entertain on game day. But diarrhea is a tricky subject for humor. Xifaxin is another medication for treating irritable bowel syndrome and diarrhea.

It chose to use a mascot to personify the condition. It looked like a little pink ball of lower intestines with a face. The commercial showed the pink intestine mascot at mascot at the Super Bowl sitting in the stands. Then it suddenly has intestinal problems and runs up the stairs to the stadium washroom while holding its behind the entire way. Abdominal pain. Urgent diarrhea.

You never know when IBSD will show up. Now there's Prescriptions IFAXN. One viewer tweeted that it looked like Kermit the Frog's illegitimate brother. Another said, thanks for that, Xyfaxin. Gross. And still another tweeted, did someone just high-five a colon in the Xyfaxin commercial? Answer, yes, that happened. But other people found the mascot cute, saying it was the best commercial in the Super Bowl. Others said they wanted the plush toy. That's the power of a cute little mascot.

It can even make diarrhea cuddly. Toilet paper, or the more demure toilet tissue, is one of the staples of any home. Used by everyone. We hope. As a matter of fact, most people use an average of 50 pounds of toilet paper per year. Yet, it is one of the most awkward subjects when it comes to advertising. One of the top brands in the TP category is Charmin. The product was first manufactured in Wisconsin in 1928.

One of the employees called the toilet paper Charming, for some unknown reason, and the TP was therefore christened Charmin. Starting in 1964, Charmin had a spokesperson called Mr. Whipple. He was the shopkeeper who pleaded with his customers not to squeeze the Charmin. As we mentioned in a past episode, the advertising strategy was to position Charmin as the softest bathroom tissue available. The selling idea was to convince shoppers to squeeze Charmin packages in the grocery store

the way one would squeeze a tomato or a loaf of bread. First she squeezes the tomatoes, then she squeezes the melons, and now she's squeezing the Charmin. Please don't squeeze the Charmin. The ad agency feared grocery store owners wouldn't like customers squeezing toilet paper all the time. So the idea became to tell shoppers not to squeeze the Charmin. Which was their way of keeping grocery store owners happy while still gently persuading shoppers to squeeze anyway.

The campaign ran for 21 years and Mr. Whipple appeared in over 500 commercials. Then in 2000, Charmin launched a new campaign. It was christened The Call of Nature. The commercials featured animated bears. Who can bear ordinary toilet tissue when they're Charmin? The news is really getting around. Charmin's unique cloth-like tissue gives you that comfy, clean feeling. The idea had originally been developed in the UK,

but that Charmin campaign featured various animals. Procter & Gamble, who owned Charmin by this time, thought a bear in the woods might be a smart way to communicate the delicate benefits of their toilet tissue. In that first TV commercial you just heard, we see an animated bear with a roll of toilet paper. He squats behind a tree, does his business. Then we see him smiling from the chest up as he wiggles and wipes himself with Charmin. And that's the charm of animation.

It allows Charmin to use cartoon bears to talk about and show what toilet paper is actually designed to do. Not long after the launch, a Mrs. Bear was added. Then in 2001, the bear family introduced three cubs, which allowed the brand to talk about toilet paper for families.

The whole family gets comfy clean. That's a clean you can get behind. Pun intended. The Charmin Bears even broke another long-held toilet paper taboo on television when it showed a bear cub with bits of toilet paper clinging to his bottom. No one likes a bath tissue that leaves pieces behind. That's why there's Charmin Ultra Strong. With its diamond weave texture, Charmin Ultra Strong is soft and more durable.

More durable so it holds up better than the Ultra Ripple brand. Ellen DeGeneres has a name for these bears. Do you remember the Care Bears? These are the Overshare Bears. When Charmin did a bottom-to-bottom comparison ad against Cottonelle's ripple tissue, Charmin claimed it left the, quote, fewest pieces behind, but then showed a bear without any bits of toilet paper stuck to his caboose. That's why there's Charmin Ultra Strong.

With its diamond weave texture, Charmin Ultra Strong is soft and more durable. More durable so it holds up better than the Ultra Ripple brand. When Cottonelle complained the commercial was misleading because the language contradicted the visuals, Charmin was ordered by regulators to add little flecks of toilet paper to their bears' behinds in all future commercials. Charmin put that ruling behind them

and continued to leverage their cartoon bears to push the boundaries in the toilet paper category. It came out with musical videos. This one features the Charmin bears

dancing to a little ditty called the Charmin Booty Smile song. At Charmin, we heard you shouldn't talk about going to the bathroom in public, so we decided to sing about it. Charmin Booty Smile. I got a

Charmin Booty Smile. My ultrasound. I got a Charmin Booty Smile. By the near to ear, the CP's magnifique. Charmin Ultrasoft so cozy, I'm grinning cheek to cheek. This next one has over 1 million views and counting.

It's called The Shiny Hiney Song. No ifs or ands, just cleaner buzz. Charming, ultra strong, oh yeah. Ultra strong, gives me the cleaner than average hiney. It's super shiny. My hiney's so charming, shiny. My hiney's so sharp and shiny. My hiney's so sharp and shiny. My hiney's

so sharp and shiny. My hiney. We all go. Why not enjoy the go with Charmin? Having a real family dance around singing about their shiny hineys would be a bit much. But a family of red cartoon bears do something

humans can't. They take the fear out of the rear. Not long ago, Preparation H wanted to use the Johnny Cash song Burning Ring of Fire in a hemorrhoid commercial. Prep H thought it was a funny idea for a painful problem. But the Cash family said,

absolutely not. That news story summed up the struggle this unique category of products faces in the world of marketing. How to make the unappealing palatable. Feelings of disgust are evolutionary. They are there for a reason. Disgust began as a life-saving reaction.

Bad food can make you sick. Something that smells bad is probably best avoided. Human secretions can pass on disease. But as the New Yorker magazine said on the subject recently, disgust also has no rationality. It's easy to become disgusted by things that pose no danger. In today's world, it means marketing has to get us past the disgust in order to absorb the messages.

And one of the ways to achieve that is to create memorable advertising that is funny or cute. The genius of the cartoon bears is that it allows Charmin to talk about things like skid marks and pieces of toilet paper clinging to bottoms while making us smile. Mr. Mucus is repulsive but amusing. The walking pink ball of intestines is a cute take on diarrhea. And while Irida Bell is not a cartoon, she personifies the annoying intrusion of IBS symptoms in a non-scatological way.

And that's the secret to marketing products for delicate bodily functions. Just like the groom of the stool, sometimes the job is to be disgustingly effective when you're under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded at Gem Productions in Palm Springs, California. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly.

Sound engineers, Keith Ullman and Don Huber. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Research, Allison Pinches. Co-writer, Sydney O'Reilly. If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy an episode titled, Mascots, Season 1, Episode 14. You'll find it in our archives. See you next week.

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