In the early days of pharmaceutical television advertising (about 15 years ago, when they first started being allowed to do it), the commercials were really vague, and they'd just tell you to ask your doctor about whatever pill they were selling. The ads would just be stuff like a guy walking through a field or a park on a beautiful day, and they'd say something like: "A new day is dawning! Ask your doctor about (whatever pill)!" They didn't even tell you what the product was for, or what it did; they just told you to ask your doctor for some. Nowadays, they have to tell you what the pharmaceutical product is and does, and what the side effects might be: that's lame! Every time I see an ad listing tons of dangerous side effects, it makes me yearn for this more innocent time, just a few years ago, when advertisers could simply tease us all with pleasant imagery and then trick us into nagging our doctors for drugs we didn't need. It was a great era for coy, cagey marketing, and this made me think it would be fun to advertise other medical stuff this way. (You know, like back when they wouldn't have to warn you of anything. But maybe they could hint at what the dangers might be...)
How about this for an ad from that period: Some guy is walking through a lovely park on a beautiful day. The trees are green, the flowers are in bloom, the birds are singing, and the guy is just slowly strolling along, soaking it all in. So in looking around at the beautiful scenery, the guy happens to notice that there are two guys in scrub suits following him. So he starts to walk faster, and so do they. So he starts running away, and they start chasing him. They catch up to him, tackle him to the ground, whip out scalpels, and start cutting him open as blood spurts out in all directions. Then, the announcer says: "Ask your doctor if surgery is right for you!"
I'll bet it would have been an instant classic of advertising, and people everywhere would have started nagging their doctors to perform surgery on them all! Don't you think so?
