NICORETTE TV SPOT COINCIDES WITH NEW YEAR's RESOLUTIONS: AD COST FIRM $500,000
Executive Summary
Merrell Dow's first television promotion for Nicorette ran during the holiday week between Christmas and New Year's Day. The advertisement takes the same "see your doctor" approach developed to promote the firm's non-sedating antihistamine, Seldane (terfenadine). The 30-second ad advises viewers to consult their doctors about quit-smoking programs available now. Like Merrell Dow's Seldane campaign, which was timed to coincide with the spring allergy season, the Nicorette spot was based on a seasonal premise -- that smokers make resolutions to quit for the new year. The spot shows a married couple discussing the wife's smoking habit. It is early morning, the wife has just gotten out of bed, and she has already lit her first cigarette of the day. Her husband tells her, ". . . You might be addicted to nicotine. . . It's a medical problem. You have a medical problem, you see the doctor." The husband in the ad indirectly refers to Nicorette therapy. Your doctor "He has a quitsmoking program that treats nicotine addiction. It helped me." As in the earlier Seldane campaign spot, the ad ends with a "See your doctor" slogan and the "Lakeside Pharmaceuticals" logo flashing on the screen. The one-week ad campaign was designed by Medicus Consumer Communications, the same firm that created the Seldane campaign, and cost $500,000. Merrell Dow also ran a $300,000 concurrent print ad campaign.