Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Charmin: Less is More

Click here to watch

There's something not quite right with this commercial. I know the correlation isn't 100% direct, but I for one do not appreciate ice cream in a commercial for toilet paper. You see, Charmin has done a good job of branding their characters. When I'm watching TV and these bears pop up, I instantly think: toilet paper! The problem I have with this ad is the abundance of round blobs falling to the ground, splattering messily onto the grass below.

I know what they're trying to say: kids take more toilet paper than they need, just like how they take more ice cream than they need. It's a good analogy, but maybe toilet paper should not be remotely related to any type of food, especially round blobby ones.

When I see that blue Charmin bear covered in spots, I think "Hey, he'll probably use some of that Ultra Soft Charmin toilet paper to clean himself off." Then my brain makes some fairly normal associations... "Well, if he uses toilet paper, then what exactly is that multicolored mess?" Do you see where I'm going with this?

Perhaps I've looked too deeply into the matter, but I think Charmin advertisers need to take it in another direction. I'm just happy the ice cream wasn't chocolate...

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