Thursday, September 27, 2007

"Disturbingly Healthy?"

I remember these Brylcreem "A little dab'll do ya!" television ads very well.
For a product benefit to be described, however, as "disturbingly healthy" just demonstrates how different a nation and culture we have today compared to 50 years ago. Even the product category of "hair dressing" seems hopelessly antiquated today in a marketplace of seemingly endless hair products.

2 comments:

JJA said...

I've known the phrase "A little dab'll do ya!" for a long time, but I never knew where it came from. It's interesting that a catchy jingle or a popular slogan is not necessarily enough to get people to remember a product.

Larry Marder said...

I have to agree with that. A slogan or a jungle that outlives its relationship with the product it once represented is a very powerful bit of hoodoo.
As I was writing this I heard one talking head on TV ask another talking head regarding a presidential candidate's position "Where's the beef?" It appears that is a phrase that will live in the language long after anyone remembers that it came from a Wendy's campaign in the '80s.

And as far as Brylcreem itself goes--I had no idea they even still made the "greasy kid's stuff."(that is what Brylcreem's competitor, Vitalis, called it in a series of memorable ads in the '60s.)

But they still do make the product--check out their webswite @ http://www.brylcreemusa.com/. The tube is still branded with "A little dab'll do ya!"