Which is why I'm absolutely in love with the advertising from
Poo-Pourri. The company makes a product that is meant to be sprayed
into the toilet before you go, so that the god-awful stench doesn't
embarrass you or traumatize your loved ones. The name hints at what
the product is used for and the marketing spells it out in minute
detail.
The latest video, from Ackermania Creative
and produced by World War Seven, is called "Even Santa Poops." And
while it mostly sidelines the English-accented spokeswoman from
previous videos "Girls Don't Poop" and "Second-Hand Stink," it
doesn't shy away from creating a steaming pile of Christmas-related
poop puns.
Examples include: "the ghost of Christmas ass"; "dropping Yule
logs down his chimney"; and "the whole house smells like a
gingerbread manslaughter."
The video goes on to describe Poo-Pourri as "the gift that stops
stinking" and ties its brilliant product mantra -- "Spritz the bowl
before you go and no one else will ever know" -- to more
holiday-specific humor like "your dingleberries will smell like
jingle-berries."
Now, is all of this slightly juvenile and decidedly gross? Sure
it is. But those very elements guarantee that the video sticks in
the mind and gets passed through social media like … well,
never mind that.
And unlike a lot of branded content that goes viral,
Poo-Pourri's video is not a random collection of crap that has
nothing to do with the product. The genius of it is the awful jokes
spell out exactly why you need the product. In other words, viewers
might be thinking, "Oh my God, that's gross and stupid," but
they're also thinking, "I've been in that exact situation. I need
to buy this."
Instilling in a consumer the need to buy something will put any
ad on the nice list, no matter how naughty it is.
~ ~ ~
CORRECTION: An earlier
version of this story created World War Seven as the agency
responsible for "Even Santa Poops." While World War Seven was the
production company, Ackermania Creative was responsible for the
creative concept.