Getting Out of the Rough Patches

Do you recognize this girl? I think she is cute, even when she's going through a rough patch. This commercial won the Best TV Creative Award at the Uncommon Courage Global Johnson & Johnson James E Burke awards 2008. And I'm going through a patch of intense learning right now, getting trained at the company that made it.

Some of our commercials get a lot of complaints. For example, another Nicorette commercial features a little smoking monster whom some smokers believe is intended to stigmatize them. When you lend artistic creativity to an idea/situation/current event by "making fun" of, in the sense of either making something more entertaining or by putting something down, you are going to have people sitting on either sides of the freedom of expression fence. Take Obama's caricature on the latest issue cover of The New Yorker, as an example. Though, it is important to keep in mind that often for every person who calls in to complain about a commercial (or a product, a label, how to dose, for smoking cessation counseling or to find out where they can get Rogaine for Women) there is someone else who happens to like the way things are, who doesn't bother to call. That's just how market research works.

If something works, you don't need to fix it. On the other hand, as a responsible organization...we're always looking to consumers for tips on how we can improve. Our first responsibility is to listen. No matter how irate and insane someone sounds. After all, there is a thin line between insanity and genius. We have to listen. We can't simply assume that the person on the other end of the phone is...just going through a rough patch.