Monday, October 24, 2011

The throne

I'd like to thank my reader, Rose who brought this drug ad to my attention. And Webhill, for her suggestions.


I'm not trying to make light of IBS, or patients with it, but let's face it. This ad could have been done better.





1. This lady is obviously in a public bathroom. So why is she leaving the stall door open?

2. The idea of having her shiny laptop (which looks suspiciously like a MacBook Pro, without the logo) on the skanky bathroom floor is just WRONG. You want to take that stuff back to your desk?

Also, it implies that she's touching it with her hands while on the toilet. A recent British study found that 1 out of every 6 cell phones had fecal material on them, likely from poor handwashing. Adding laptops to this list, given that they often have more than one user, is NOT a good practice.

3. The slogan stinks.

36 comments:

Brad said...

Also unfortunate that she appears to be pooping with her skirt still down.

Haven said...

Wooooooooooooow. Just wow.

Anonymous said...

@PharmNerd - Well, a woman sitting on a toilet suffering from diarrhea-predominant IBS just wouldn't look as attractive if her skirt was bunched up. It's all about attracting men even if it's a drug for women. :D

Anonymous said...

She's sitting on the throne with her skirt on!

Well, the add sure is attention seeking!

Welcome back! Hope all went well this weekend.

Reds Kevin said...

Yeah what happened, Craig got in trouble with San Diego Police?

The add is very funny, is it real?

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Yes, it is real. It's part of a slideshow on the product's website.

ERP said...

I always see hot chicks taking craps with the door open in public bathrooms. Why is this weird?

Anonymous said...

Further on the slideshow, the same laptop is on a table in a cafe. Definitely unhygienic!

Thomas D. said...

I don't think that's what Dr. Seuss meant when he wrote "Oh, The Places You'll Go!"

Also, not only does she appear to have her skirt on (though perhaps hiked up), who could go with their legs in that position?

Carrie said...

If you look at the website she is never without her laptop in the pictures. Maybe the drug is the laptop, ha ha. But if she takes it into the bathroom, she might want to share that with the person she was having a meeting with in one of the slides.

Anonymous said...

hmm I take this med. One would think since it actually cost $900 a month (60) tabs that they could afford a better ad campaign. Or at least a more three dimensional model. Who wouldn't want to be the face of violent, precipitous fecal incontinence?

Anonymous said...

not only is her skirt on, there is no underwear around her ankles . . .

Anonymous said...

What else an I supposed to do in the bathroom while waiting for the other stuff to happen. Also, it discourages others from borrowing my iPad.

Li'l Azathoth said...

What can she do? She's clearly a high-powered career woman, and she's probably in the middle of an important Web chat with some big clients.

Packer said...

Ok, since when did this become Dr. Grumpy's gross out blog , hmmmm must have been Friday, took day off and sure enough the world did come to an end.

OMDG said...

I dunno, this ad is kind of revolting.... which is the whole point, right? Without this drug you'll be in the revolting position of having to run to the bathroom with your laptop. You won't even have time to pull up your skirt or close the door.

Packer said...

Another reason for web cams...

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Good point, Packer. Because at the pictured angle the webcam on top of the laptop's screen should get a great shot of...

jimbo26 said...

Don't women pee with their legs ' slightly ' apart ?

Anonymous said...

Did Craig's "Hair" require a TSA pat down this weekend? You must have had to check your luggage as his "product" had to exceed the
3-1-1 rule! Glad you arrived back safely and hope that everything is okay!

Anonymous said...

This ad should be incorporated into an episode of Mad Men....

Hannah said...

My personal experience with IBS-d has mostly been with pooping myself while shopping at WalMart.

Makes the laptop and squeaky clean bathroom seem nice.

Loren Pechtel said...

I think the point is that her IBS-D is so bad that she has to work while on the can because she spends so much time there that her work wouldn't get done otherwise.

I do agree there are lots of oopses in it.

Steve Bailey said...

She is clearly into voyeuristic pooping...... Cannonball!!!

Anonymous said...

The original picture was of a bride walking down the church aisle with a brown trail behind her.

K2 said...

Are bathroom floors really that germy? Would love to see a study on bathroom floors vs toilet flush levers vs kitchen sponges. Most germs, nastiest germs, etc. I know bathroom floors look nasty, but most of them get mopped daily (and we are talking about the ladies room, so no pee all over the place like in mens' rooms I've been in). But yeah, I'd be pissed if my friend sets her purse/laptop on the bathroom floor then on my lunch table.

Schild said...

Like the add! Even if shes pooping her skirt and it´s unhygienic.

Anonymous said...

Move along now, this is not the crap you are looking for...

Mark In Mayenne said...

By the by, I don't believe that fecal matter on cellphones is the end of the matter. Try pens, clothes, desks, keyboards......

OMDG said...

There's pretty much poo everywhere. Just don't think too hard about it.

Anonymous said...

clearly must have been a man who did this one. Probably didn't know that women just hike up the skirt rather then pulling down. Perhaps also never been in a womens' public bathroom. Yeah, I imagine they are cleaner then mens' but not THAT clean!

Anonymous said...

i have worked where women refuse to sit or touch to flush. not pretty

Alexis said...

I cannot believe this is real. There are no words.

Anonymous said...

I think she's just sitting there with a plastic laptop trying to look pretty.

No woman I know poos in that position, nor would put anything she touches with her hands on the floor in a public restroom or even on the counter in the water closet for that matter.

I won't even put my purse anywhere but the back of a chair by its strap--the places it's been.

Have you ever 'coughed up' poppyseeds? (Don't ask why they've been ingested in large enough amount to be forcibly ejected). Even if holding one's hand over the mouth, poppyseeds (aka 'germs') are spread EVERYWHERE.

Can't imagine putting anything other than shoes on the restroom floor!

FDA Guy said...

Direct To Consumer ads (DTC) should offer "fair balance" statements outlining major risks. This ad provides the black box warning, but omits two of the important contraindications (sections 4.3 and 4.4 of the Lotronex prescribing information).

I'm particularly fond of 4.4: "LOTRONEX should not be used by patients who are unable to understand ...."

In other words, the risks of the drug when not used correctly are so serious that people who don't understand the risks shouldn't use the drug.

If you don't understand the risk of putting your laptop on the restroom floor, then you probably are too stupid to use Lotronex.

Anonymous said...

For someone with the squits, she looks remarkably calm and happy. But who on earth uses a public toilet without closing the cubicle door?!

 
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