In a world oversaturated with advertising, it’s hard for a brand to make their message stand out. But one company just figured out an incredible way to cut through the noise and generate serious buzz for their product: Sales for Mucinex have skyrocketed after the company aired a commercial where the Mucinex Man methodically dismembers a family of five before he’s finally shot to pieces by a SWAT team wearing Mucinex hats.
Genius!
The brilliant new Mucinex ad, which caused a 500 percent spike in sales within days of it first airing, features the Mucinex Man, dressed in a comical cat burglar outfit, silently picking the lock of a Kansas farmhouse and proceeding to tie up and disembowel the two parents and three children sleeping inside in order to show viewers how nasty congestion can be.
Over the course of the 45-minute long-form commercial spot, the Mucinex Man methodically terrorizes the family and ties them to chairs as they scream and struggle to escape. “You can cough as loud as you want, but nobody will be able to hear you,” the anthropomorphic mucus blob tells the hysterical family. “I am here to bring you death and dry, scratchy coughing. Prepare to die, you congested pigs.”
The Mucinex Man then proceeds to use an eight-inch knife and other sinister implements to carve the family into dozens of bloody pieces and spell out words like “CHEST CONGESTION” and “UP ALL NIGHT COUGHING” on the floor with their entrails.
At the conclusion of the ad, the Mucinex Man rolls around in a pool of the family’s blood screaming, “Congestion wins again!” But then, the door to the house is suddenly blown open and a 12-man SWAT team armed with assault rifles and wearing Mucinex hats sprints into the house. “Oh no! It’s the Mucinex SWAT team!” the Mucinex Man screams. He knows his life is over because Mucinex provides fast-acting relief for cough and congestion. The Mucinex SWAT team then opens sustained fire on the Mucinex Man, blowing his body to ribbons.
Several members of the Mucinex SWAT team see the unthinkable carnage of the murdered family and start vomiting all over the floor as their braver companions continue to pump the Mucinex Man full of bullets. The Mucinex Man is completely dead long before the SWAT team stops firing on his corpse, and by the end of the commercial his body is a barely recognizable pile of green, oozing pulp. Where his face used to be, there is nothing but a single lifeless eyeball atop a gruesome mess of mucus and bone shards.
A voiceover then comes in and says, “Maximum strength Mucinex DM breaks up chest mucus and quiets coughing for 12 full hours! Mucinex in. Mucus out”—perfectly conveying the brand’s message that if your whole family ever gets murdered and you’re feeling congested, Mucinex can give you the relief you need.
Wow! Talk about a masterclass in advertising!
Other brands, take note, because THIS is how you get people excited about your product. Kudos to Mucinex for setting a new bar for effective advertising.
