Dr. Carolyn Lee reflects on a different cliché each week. Recently, in her blog “One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure,” she considers why something looks like art to some, and not to others. This week Carolyn explores the cliché, you’ve got to be kidding me. 

Learn more about Dr. Carolyn Lee on her biography page or investigate 29 more clichés in her latest book, Keep Your Eye on the Ball And Other Clichès to Live By. 

You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me

It’s fun to imagine an ad writer pitching his idea to a roomful of prospective producers and corporate executives. “Okay,” he says, “we see a medium shot of a late-night talk show host sitting at his desk. He is interviewing someone. But when we cut to a closeup of the interviewee, we see that it is a foot with a talking toenail. Yes, there is a woman’s face on the big toenail. She and the host discuss toenail fungus, and she suggests that the answer is Kerasal Fungal Nail Removal.” At this point, I would think someone on the receiving end of this pitch would say, “You have got to be kidding me.” But, instead, someone apparently says, “Brilliant idea! Let’s go with it!” and they begin the pre-production process.  

Maybe it’s just me, but I saw that talking toenail commercial as one more example of commercial advertising’s penchant for the ridiculous and sometimes embarrassing. Of course, being ridiculous and embarrassing is nothing new for commercial advertising. I would list the Charmin Toilet Paper commercials among the silliest and cringe-inducing ads on television, and they’ve been running since 2000. Apparently, my opinion about their appeal is not shared by a large number of the viewing audience. In a recent article about the Charmin Bears, a writer observed, “Serving as the brand’s mascots, they have become a beloved part of the company advertising campaigns, capturing the hearts of consumers worldwide.” Really? Did you know that the Charmin Bears are a “family,” and they actually have names? Leonard and Molly are the parents, and Amy and Dylan are their children. They have very different personalities, but the one thing they have in common is that they all “enjoy the go.” On a Charmin website, the company makes a statement about their mission: “Charmin aims to enhance the bathroom experience by providing the perfect tissue for everyone, ensuring relief, calmness, cleanliness, joy, and pride. As a result, Charmin users look forward to their bathroom visits and genuinely enjoy the experience, demonstrating that those who choose Charmin truly relish their time in the restroom.” Well, this sounds like a lofty aspiration. Perhaps I need to be more open-minded and accepting—and calm and full of pride. 

The cringe-factor of Charmin commercials doesn’t really compare to the “repulsive and loathsome” label some viewers have attached to the ads of Xiaflex, a drug designed to treat Peyronie’s Disease. I had never heard of this particular malady, but I was clever enough to immediately grasp the nature of the condition as I watched the now-infamous “bent carrot” commercial. It begins with a couple standing in their kitchen. On the counter in front of them is a pile of straight carrots on the top of which is a carrot that is significantly bent. A voiceover says, “Manhood looks different from guy to guy, but when yours bends in a different direction, you might feel bothered by it. So talk to a urologist.” Cut to the woman’s face looking disappointed; then cut to the man’s face looking ashamed. One viewer wrote, “I cannot possibly describe how much I want to throw a brick through the TV when that idiotic bent carrot shows up at dinnertime.” Yes, I’ll have to agree; that one is pretty hard to take. But the drug-maker who said “yes” to the bent-carrot idea is enjoying a 20% increase in revenue during this year’s third quarter compared to last year, hitting $106 million. You’ve got to be kidding me. 

When peddling a product that might be considered “intimate,” advertisers sometimes opt for a light-hearted approach. Cologuard, a company that produces an at-home, colon cancer screening test, came up with a walking, talking “kit” that follows people around trying to persuade them to opt for the kit rather than the standard, physician-administered colonoscopy. Saturday Night Live found this idea so amusing that they developed a skit around it in which Woody Harrelson is besieged by a number of walking, talking, speaking, colon-screening boxes who urge him to “unleash” while a UPS delivery guy watches in amusement. Another Cologuard series of commercials features the talking boxes extolling their virtues while, in the background, we hear Frank Sinatra singing, “I did it my way.” One disgusted viewer wrote in to say, “Did they skip the opening lines? ‘And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain.’ Kinda brutal in a cancer screening ad.” Well, at least nobody comes right out and says, “stool sample.” 

No, there seems to be no end, no limit to the silliness and tastelessness of contemporary advertising on television. I would write about the Lume Whole-Body Deodorant commercials and their “Smell Better Naked” campaign, but I would be embarrassed to type the words. The most disturbing thing about this whole phenomenon is that the makers of the toenail fungus, toilet paper, Xiaflex, colon-screening, deodorant products are making a lot of money, and they are not kidding.

Want to Read More? 

Check out Dr. Carolyn Lee’s blogs on her website, she features a new cliché each week or you can order her new book, Keep Your Eye on the Ball And Other Clichès to Live By. Want to know more about the woman behind the words? Read more about Carolyn here. We hope you enjoyed this article learning more about the cliché, you’ve got to be kidding me.