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• Weirdness Isolation

Sometimes it would be really great to get a doctor or other medical authority to say something nice about your product and or service on TV. However, for some reason -- FDA approval, budget, etc. -- it will not be possible to actually get a real doctor to do this.

The solution, dress an actor up in a white lab coat, and give them a stethoscope. If possible put them in a set that looks like a waiting room, pharmacy, or hospital. As long as you don't say they're really a doctor you aren't going to get in trouble.

Trope named for a commercial from the 1980s in which Peter Bergman, who played a physician on The Young And The Restless, opened his pitch for Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup with this very line.

• I thought it was Robert Young, from Marcus Welby MD?

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• Subverted in a Jack in the Box commercial where a guy in a lab coat rattles off a bunch of preposterous health claims about cheesy fries on a tv screen being watched by the Jack character and a suit. When Jack asks the suit where he found this guy, the suit replies, "Tobacco company."
• This editor has also heard a tongue-in-cheek expression, "I'm not God, I just play one on TV."
• Someone at the old spice marketing department looked at this page and went "Hey, I think I have an idea...
• Neil Patrick Harris has done some commercials for Old Spice in which he constantly reassures the viewer that he can prescribe Old Spice prescription strength deodorant without a prescription because he used to be a Doctor For Pretend.
• Basketball player Dr. J has started doing Dr. Pepper commercials, concluding with "Trust me, I'm a doctor."

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