Head On (Apply Directly to the Forehead silly!)
| YouTube link to the :15 spot, which will pop in a new window. |
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| Ah yeah, apply it directly to the forehead, ya’ll |
Sorry about the YouTube link for the video here, but I just couldn’t hold off any longer without commenting on this spot, and I was having trouble getting my hands on the broadcast version of this pure marvel of television advertising.
The spot simply repeats: “Head On. Apply directly to the forehead!” over and over. It doesn’t even sound like they use multiple audio takes, they just triple-up the woman’s voice (saving themselves some sweet sweet cash in the recording studio).
In some ways, I feel this is too awful of a commercial for Awful Commercials. It’s kind of like playing tag with the kid in the motorized wheelchair. Sometimes I wake up at night from a dream about elementary school, wondering if that poor kid is still “it” somewhere, sitting sadly and wheelchair-bound at his computer programming job.
But that is my burden. This commercial is everyone else’s. There’s a tenet of advertising in this commercial that seems to have been taken too literally: repetition of your message will help the consumer remember it. But you can repeat your message without, well, LITERALLY repeating your message.
Some credit has to be given to the ability of this spot to get people’s attention. It’s so repetitious it makes people talk about how ham-fisted it is. And surely I have to think there are in fact some people sitting at home who see and hear this commercial, and after the third reading of “Head On. Apply directly to the forehead!” they think to themselves, “well I’ll be, you apply it directly to your forehead!” Then at the 4 p.m. bridge game they ask if anyone else has heard about this headache cure, the one you apply directly to your forehead. “Yes you apply it directly to your forehead!” her partner says. “It must work. Everyone’s talking about it.”
For once I feel weakened and tired by the bad commercial hunt. I feel as though I’ve bested a small child, or perhaps a wily but faithful dog at a game of chance. I will return, but not before seeking out some kind of fast-acting headache remedy.
| YouTube link to the :15 spot, which will pop in a new window. |
Comment // August 17th, 2006 // 4:31 pm
Daily Show parodied this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV5_dZUc504&NR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd6eqC1VCf0
Comment // August 18th, 2006 // 4:15 pm
Yeah it’s like this commercials WANTS us to make fun of it. It’s kind of sad really, like that kid who enjoyed being beaten up in school.
Comment // August 26th, 2006 // 3:09 pm
It’s made itself a very easy target for riddicule. Maybe a little TOO easy.
Comment // September 14th, 2006 // 12:09 am
I usually see a commercial for freedom hemorrhoid cream directly after the “Head On” one; apparently they are made by the same company. I can’t help but laugh and wonder why they didn’t use the same technique in that commercial.
“Freedom hemorrhoid cream - apply directly to the butthole.”
“Freedom hemorrhoid cream - apply directly to the butthole.”
“Freedom hemorrhoid cream - apply directly to the butthole.”
Oh, well.
Comment // September 25th, 2006 // 3:33 pm
Now they’ve exploited the laughability of these commercials with insets of people complaining about them while lauding the product. It’s true. I’m beginning to wonder if there’s truth to that notion that there’s no such thing as bad buzz.
Comment // October 4th, 2006 // 1:51 pm
This one doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t _like_ it at all, but it doesn’t get to me like it seems to everyone else. It is brief, and there’s no annoying song that gets stuck in my head. I don’t get their slogan stuck in my head or anything. The only complaint I have about this is that it airs once, then another commercial or two airs, then Head On airs again.
But I can think of a dozen commercials I hate more than this one.
I am really REALLY sick of that Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Possibilities commercial, because once I see that then that song is in my head ALL DAY. And as often as it airs, that’s like a quarter of my life spent walking around with this horrible, horrible song. Oh god, it’s airing right now, Tuna noodle casserole possibilities. And haven’t they been using the same theme for at least two years?? Stop already!
Comment // October 20th, 2006 // 2:34 pm
So bad…it’s good. The fact that people like us (and trust me, there are many, many more like us out there) feel the need to chat with stangers about this spot makes it absolutely brilliant. In fact, I’m thinking of all sorts of parodies for this that I can apply this directly to my clients…I can apply this directly to my clients….I can apply this directly to my clients.
Comment // November 3rd, 2006 // 1:52 pm
WE LOVE THIS COMMERICAL.
that comment about the hemroid commmerical is offensive because jen using it daily.
Comment // December 16th, 2006 // 12:14 pm
i will never buy this product… i don’t care if i’m dying of a migraine.. those bastards will never get my money and shame on cnn and fox for taking this kind of nonsense. what a bunch of wankers!
Comment // December 21st, 2006 // 1:44 pm
It is my policy to blackball any product that uses annoying commercials. If more people took this tack, the manufacturers–or is it the P.R. people–would get the message quickly.
Comment // December 31st, 2006 // 1:04 am
READ THE FINE PRINT. Has this product been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration? If not, why not?!
If not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, why is it being sold? COME ON NOW! Seems to me it is worthless.
I spent five years of my life studying chemistry and biological sciences in order to become a registered pharmacist. I sure wouldn’t throw my money away on this junk!
Comment // December 31st, 2006 // 9:00 pm
Any time those Head-On commercials come on, I start to SCREAM!or go berserk and turn the channel! They aired that ad nauseum on Fox News Channel and CNN for about 8 weeks straight between May and June of 2006. It’s calmed down a lot, but that endless 8-9 weeks of overkill on some slow news weeks was RIDICULOUS! Sometimes, it aired a second time 1 minute after another commercial came on in some blocks! Funny at first, but not so funny afterwards. They’ve had some people confront the repetitiveness of the Head-On line, but it’s still not effective. It comes off as shameless, crass, sorry, overwrought and bizarre advertising. They don’t even tell you how the product works.
Pingback // January 5th, 2007 // 8:45 pm
[...] My undisputed pick for the number one worst commercial of the year has to be the original “Head On, apply directly to the forehead, Head On, apply directly to the forehead, Head On, apply directly to the forehead” commercial. I of course could not avoid having talked about this spot earlier. This doesn’t appear to be a clever marketing gimmick, because updated commercials actually apologize to the viewer for how annoying the ads proved to be. When it actually comes to buying airtime to apologize for your awful commercials, you win. You are the worst. [...]
Comment // January 7th, 2007 // 4:47 am
Yep.
I just saw a commercial in which it had a guy saying (as the original commercial started to air “I hate your commercial, but I love your product!”
Comment // January 8th, 2007 // 11:53 am
I mention the new ones here: http://www.awfulcommercials.com/archives/2007/01/05/top-6-worst-commercials-of-2006/
Comment // January 25th, 2007 // 8:13 pm
This commercial is so awful, they don’t even tell you what the product is for. All they say is those seven annoying words I won’t dare repeat lest I upset myself. I got so sick of hearing it and not knowing what it was about that I looked it up online, which led me to this website. :)
Comment // February 1st, 2007 // 6:34 pm
This is the worst commercial ever. It is extremely annoying. I had to research the product myself to find out what the heck it is. Without researching the product I wouldn’t of even known what the product does due to the stupid people interrupt the commercial in the middle of where they would describe what the heck it is. I looked it up and it is suppose to help you get rid of headaches. I believe it gives you a headache more than it alleviates them.
Comment // March 7th, 2007 // 4:03 pm
This is the most discusting piece of jackal doo doo I have ever seen or heard. I wouldn’t buy any of their products. Wouldn’t evenb use it if it was giving to me for free. Not that I would even take it home. This is nothing but trash advertising. It’s TV Spam.
Comment // March 12th, 2007 // 5:39 am
I thought the comment on the hemorrhoid creme was hilarious!!!!!!
Comment // April 10th, 2007 // 9:45 pm
What does your product claim to do? I’ll be damned if I will ever buy a product based on a stupid commercial that makes no claims except to be so stupid as to make no claims!!!!!
Comment // June 1st, 2007 // 4:27 am
I think the HeadOn ads are great. I am not the only one, many people in the biz thank so as well.
http://www.jimmyco.com/display.php?codename=HeadOn
Comment // June 4th, 2007 // 4:15 am
Is it for forehead zits? Perhaps it removes forehead wrinkles? Maybe it just makes your forehead more shiny, in case you feel that’s a pretty look. Does anyone know a website or e-mail address for this product. I would like to write to inform them that some of us will never buy a product from a company that would advertise it without saying what it is for.
Comment // July 23rd, 2007 // 12:48 pm
This commercial drives me f***** insane every time i hear i just want to smash my head into a wall. It makes me want to smash my tv and everything around it and i am a pretty easy goin person but this commercial just brings out the f****** little lucifer thats living inside of me.
Comment // October 31st, 2007 // 9:42 am
My heart rate increses, my blood pressure boils, and I can’t find the f****** remote quick enough to change the channel before the choir starts the chant. My God, I would rather have my sack ripped open and alcohol poured over the exposed flesh while watching the Sound of Music then listen to the BS commercial. Can we bring a class action lawsuit for stupidity and wasting my time for TV I pay for?
Pingback // November 28th, 2007 // 2:44 am
[...] This is the cached version of http://www.awfulcommercials.com/archives/2006/08/16/head-on-apply-directly-to-the-forehead-silly/#co... We are neither affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content. Comment on Head On (Apply Directly to the Forehead silly!) by Noneya [...]
Comment // January 30th, 2009 // 1:33 pm
I think this commercial is absolute genius. People parody it. It gets spread around Youtube. Comedians make fun of it. It has viral advertising written all over it.
You cannot ask for any better publicity in the world for your product.
Awful, maybe, effective, absolutely.
Robert C - The Wholesale Products Guy