"Way to go, Crestor!!!"

Everybody is talking about commercials today.

OK, some are talking about the beating the Broncos put on the Seahawks. Or the beating the Seahawks put on the Broncos. I'm writing this on Saturday, so the outcome of the game is TBD.

But in my little world of advertising, the chatter (as the NSA would put it) is all about the spots.

"I loved the spot with the dog/monkey/sloth."

"We had that idea two years ago."

"The 60-second commercial was great, but did you go online and see their engagement unit? I was up to the wee hours of Monday morning engaging and interacting with the brand in a meaningful way that will result in exponentially greater sales intention."

Pretty fascinating water cooler conversation, huh?

Makes me glad I'm back to working from home.

Today, I'd like to bring up a commercial that isn't getting any buzz, but should. It's been airing a lot lately however I suspect it has flown under your radar. Which says less about the particular spot and more about your radar. And how desensitized we've all become to out and out stupidity.

Watch the spot. Here's the link.

With the exception of one miserable client that walked in the door at Chiat/Day years ago, I haven't done a ton of pharma advertising. And I'm sure it presents its own challenges. It's hard to sell anything when the FDA mandates a line of copy that reads…

"Use of this product may induce suicidal thoughts or even death."

Cue the jingle.

But I do know that had I been given the assignment for Crestor and told to beat the pants off those shysters at Lipitor, I'm 99.9% sure I would not have come up with a dancing Jeff Garlin lookalike who is so enthused about his new cholesterol pills that he has -- against the better advice of his wife -- redecorated the house with pharmaceutical swag.

That one is simply not in my playbook.

However, I would have paid good money to sit in on the meeting where the "Director" and the "Creative Team", presented their choice of "Actor" to the client.

AGENCY: We like this guy.

CLIENT: He's a little schlubby. Was there anyone more handsome? Crestor is an aspirational cholesterol reduction medication.

AGENCY: Let's watch the way he moonwalks again.

Cue the uncomfortable mercy laughter.

I try not to use this blog as a bully platform. And if you'll re-read the previous 990+ entries you'll see that despite Ample opportunity (Ample with a capital A), I have refrained from skewering any work done by my colleagues. Mostly because I am a freelancer and don't want to alienate anyone who could possibly give me a gig in the near future.

But if my career ever gets to a low point where I need to go all sycophant and ask for work from the team who put this Crestor masterpiece on the air, it's a safe bet that will induce some serious thoughts of suicide.