I’m Scratching My Head
In disbelief.
Head and Shoulders is the leader in dandruff shampoo. When I was a kid I used it and it worked great. Eventually I no longer needed it but it was and probably is still one of the best dandruff shampoo’s out there. Their brand identity is eliminating dandruff.
Now for the brand kiss of death…Head and Shoulders wants you to believe their shampoo is not only good for dandruff….wait for it…but it’s gonna make your hair all soft and pretty like EVERY OTHER shampoo on the market. And they do it with this commercial:
They want you to “rethink Head and Shoulders”. Why? It’s a dandruff shampoo isn’t it? It works on dandruff right? Why muddy the waters and loose your edge? Call me crazy but this is another case of trying to be everything to everyone. It gets rid of dandruff. Period. Embrace it, use it, own it. Love it, be the ball…nah, nah, nah, nah.
What say you fellow kahunas?
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September 11th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I have to say, I saw the commercial and was not really amused, at all (there aren’t many sports players that have the charisma to deliver dialog with any real persuasiveness or entertainment value – and I thought it was going to be a prime example of that), until the punchline: “you asked with you eyes, Trent. You asked with your eyes.”
He delivered that line perfectly, and it made me chuckle. Still does on second watch. And here we are, all talking about it, and passing it around on Twitter. YouTube video up to 22,000 views – not viral, but not bad.
Will it help sell more shampoo for them? Time will tell. I’ll give them props for doing something amusing and interestingly targeted to sports fans, and as a single campaign, I don’t think that this will damage their brand perception around being a dandruff shampoo. Maybe they run a risk if they stick with it blindly in the long-term, but an interesting experiment.
September 12th, 2009 at 9:23 am
I think this ad is a screw-up for Head & Shoulders. Clear case of deviation from their brand vision which is a death-trap.