Line #13 Advertising/HeadOn


1	[[quoteright:307:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/headon_6492.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:307:[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment HeadOn, apply directly to the forehead.]]]]
3	A "medical" product known for its annoyingly simple commercial. Literally, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_SwD7RveNE entire commercial]] was as follows:
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5	-->''[=HeadOn=], apply directly to the forehead.\
6	[=HeadOn=], apply directly to the forehead.\
7	[=HeadOn=], apply directly to the forehead.\
8	[=HeadOn=] is available without a prescription at retailers nationwide.''
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10	The notorious advertisement, which first aired in June 2006, stemmed from Better Business Bureau objections to the earlier ads' claims of "fast, safe, effective" headache relief.
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12	Sold as a "homeopathic remedy", the product is actually a wax stick that (obviously) does absolutely nothing when applied to the forehead. In other words, it's a scam, or as the late skeptic and illusionist James Randi puts it, "a major medical swindle"! The "active" ingredients are two types of poisonous flowers and a carcinogen, but don't be concerned; as per norm with homeopathy, they are diluted to ''parts per trillion''. You probably encounter higher doses of things sitting on your couch breathing.
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14	Basically, when you tell people that you use [=HeadOn=], you're telling them that you're just rubbing wax with dangerous stuff in it on your head, making yourself look silly in the process (because when viewed from a distance, it looks like you're intentionally rubbing a gluestick on your forehead).
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16	The product was eventually discontinued during the early-2010s for reasons unknown.
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18	----
19	!!Tropes, apply directly to the forehead.
20	* AsbestosFreeCereal: “Available without a prescription!” This is true of many effective over-the-counter medications… it’s also true of most other things that aren’t medicine, like candles.
21	* BeigeProse: What does this product actually ''do?'' It's an EnforcedTrope: Since it's just a stick of wax that has absolutely nothing clinically proven to cure anything, they are not legally allowed to say that ''it does anything at all.''
22	* BrokenRecord: [=HeadOn=], apply directly to the forehead.
23	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: [=HeadOn=], apply directly to the forehead.
24	* ExactWords: You'll notice that they don't actually specify in the commercials that the product is intended as a headache cure. [[EnforcedTrope This is because the FCC forbids them from making a claim like that]] without proof it works -- so instead they tell you to "apply directly to the forehead" and hope you'll come up with your own reasons as to why you should do that.
25	* OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope: The unusual format of the ad was caused by obligations not to claim that [=HeadOn=] actually worked.
26	* OurSloganIsTerrible: Later iterations of the commercial, probably aware of its MemeticMutation status, had it humorously interrupted by a spokesperson who complained about how annoying the commercial was-- but they still loved the product!
27	* RuleOfThree: The announcer says "[=HeadOn=], apply directly to the forehead" three times, since repeating things that many times helps audiences remember something.
28	* SelfDeprecation: Eventually they wised up to the mass's opinions about the commercial and had it get cut off for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRb3w6e0W9I someone to come in]] and [[LampshadeHanging point out how annoying they are]], but still commending the product.
29	* ViewersAreGoldfish: The ad repeats to apply the product directly to the forehead without taking into consideration that perhaps just saying it once might work just as well.
30	* WhatWereTheySellingAgain: The ad mentions that [=HeadOn=] is applied directly to the forehead, but it doesn't explain ''what'' it is, or ''why'' you'd want to do it. It's actually intended as a headache relief medicine, but due to the lack of actual medicine, giving more details about the product would go against [[EnforcedTrope the FCC's rules against making unproven medical claims]].
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32	----
33	->[[SpeechBubblesInterruption HeadOn, I HATE your commercial! But I LOVE your product.]]

Context Advertising / HeadOn