Commercial 2

Commercial 2- Otrivin Nasal: Shoelace

The Otrivin Nasal “shoelace” commercial is humorous and clever. It starts off by portraying a man at a bus station with his mouth wide open. He looks unintelligent, oblivious to the world around him and out of place. To make it worse, his shoelace is untied. The lady standing next to him is clearly starring at him, questioning his intelligence and confused as to why the man is not tying his shoe. Eventually, she takes charge and ties his shoe for him.

The commercial subtly implies that the lady believes the man has something mentally wrong with him. As the commercial ends, the words “you look dumber with your mouth open” appear on the screen.  Then, the Otrivin bottle finally appears.

This commercial addresses an issue many people experience with the common cold: inability to breathe through one’s nose. No one wants to walk around with his or her mouth open, but sometimes it’s the only thing you can do. But now, Otrivin can help you.

Typically, commercials for medicine involve a spokesperson explaining the benefits of a product. Otrivin sells its product to consumers by relating to a common problem: walking around with your mouth open when you have a cold.  

The production techniques used to produce this ad were simple. There is no animation or digital images. I would not change how this ad was filmed or produced. The ad gets the point across quickly through its humor. Furthermore, the ad focuses on sound. The viewer can hear the man heavily breathing as he draws negative attention from others. This simple sound evokes emotion from many people. Almost everyone has been annoyed by his or her inability to breathe or by someone else’s heavy breathing. Through these simple actions, such as the use of sound and simplicity, the consumer can identify with the brand. Overall, this ad is effective as it conveys the purpose of the product and is relatable to the average consumer.