Alka-Seltzer Plus

The Setting
The conference room near the Marketing Department at Bayer.

In Attendance
Several ad agency creatives; the director of marketing for Alka-Seltzer products; and a couple of marketing managers for Bayer HealthCare.

The Topic
The seasonal advertising campaign for Alka-Seltzer's line of Plus cold-relief products.

The Conversation
Account Executive: We decided to keep the campaign simple. Straight to the point. And very economical. Here's the idea.

Copy Chief: OK, we have a 34-44 year old woman standing in a pure white studio. She looks like she might have a cold. There's a glass of water on the floor. She zips open a pack of Alka-Seltzer Plus...

Marketing Manager: Mucus & Congestion, Cold or Cold & Cough?

Copy Chief: Uh, Cold...She drops the tablets in the water and then she jumps up into the air and we do this little visual effect when she sort of shrinks in size and comes down inside the glass.

Marketing Director: She shrinks and lands inside the glass?

Copy Chief: Yeah, and there's a little splash and bubbles all around her.

Marketing Director: Hmmm...OK.

Copy Chief: Then we do this weird shot of her face and it's obvious she's under water. She has that strange look, you know, when you open your eyes under water how it makes you look sort of strange? Maybe some bubbles come out of her nose.

Marketing Manager: Why?

Account Executive: Because...get this...she's "liquidating" her cold? Get it? And we use the line, "Immerse yourself in total cold relief!"

Marketing Manager: And then?

Copy Chief: She does this sort of spin and then lands back in the studio, but now she's feeling much better and her cold is gone! Oh, and magically her clothes aren't wet.

Account Executive: And we have her say, "Ahhhh" - like she's much better now.

The Bayer folks look at each other for a long time, trying to make sense of how this will look and what reaction people will have to something so moronic.

Marketing Director: I like it!