Please, let me openly admit my own ignorance when explaining my first impression of this ad. When I first saw this poster, my initial response was: “Man o man, I guess if you have and choose to treat HIV, there’s so much to read up on, you have to read everywhere, all the time!!” Because apparently, in my mind, the most ideal place to read and absorb any literature worth paying attention to is in the bathroom? What in the hell is wrong with me?
Needless to say, this ad had me a bit confused at first. And so, after another viewing I finally digested it and passed a more solid analysis. Obviously after reading about ‘asking a doctor for an HIV medication with a low risk of diarrhea’.
Oops/Huh. How about that. I didn’t know about this. So, am I being informed properly? Is this a PSA or an ad for Bristol Meyers Squibb? Am I to believe most people who treat their HIV have the runs? Is Diarrhea the biggest problem someone with HIV can face? Does Bristol Meyers Squibb have a more appealing medication than other leading pharmaceuticians*? Will my eye be open to other peoples bathroom reading material when I’m at a party?
This is an element of advertisement I love: Not being the target audience, how does the ad affect me/does it affect me at all? Personally, I’m not sure just yet, but I do side with the ad and strive for the day where no one has to live on a toilet.
Then again. . .as long as there’s a Lower East Side, that day seems pretty far off.
*p.s. I’m coining and claiming “pharmaceuticians®©™” as my original own
3 Comments
June 26, 2008 at 4:59 pm
[...] Jump to Comments Victim to my own rampant automatic- thought- association, it’s easy for me to misinterpret an ad mostly because I’m lost in my own world. And that’s what happened as my eye caught this [...]
July 10, 2008 at 3:17 am
It’s likely an unbranded launch campaign for REYATAZ, the BMS Rx.
September 4, 2009 at 2:04 am
ha this sort of reminds me of the ad for HIV that had a bunch of people smiling and it said I’m Positive! on the top like it was a good thing.