Creative Agency: Kirt Gunn & Associates and Publicis New York
The idea is to create buzz with the documentary, the "Study in Progress" films, interactive timeline and travel phrase book-- all available on the site. There's a sister site, macinnesandporritt.com, calling for volunteers to participate in a clinical study of the "disorder." The campaign itself kicked off offline-- with ads in local newspapers reaching out to men suffering from menstrual cramps, and directing audiences to the website.
Those involved with the campaign estimate that 11 million have seen it. The question, of course, is how much actual branding is going on. Initially, the site and ads didn't call out the ThermaCare product. Certainly involving the product in the messaging is a step in the right direction, but one does wonder how many women are incentivized to go out and buy this product, even if they have found the websites and ads to be funny.
-- Emma Brownell, managing editor, iMedia
Awesome.
Advertainment is a tightrope: Cling too tightly to the products and services and we are not being entertained. Spend too much time on the entertainment side of things and we’ve forgotten all about what’s being sold. Not to mention the potential consumer backlash of going all out irreverent. So it’s all about balance. Is this site from P&G well-balanced? Only the audience can decide, but I loved it. Here’s why:
They committed to their story about man cramps and they didn’t flinch, think twice or look back. The writing, production and talent are great-- damned near "Daily Show" material.
As for strategy, I understand that man cramps is a means to empathize, but what I don’t get is going after a female audience with a history channel/comedy central approach that is clearly a guy thing. Maybe that incongruence makes me like it even more.
-- Brian Linder, associate creative director, Click Here
I’m shocked. Procter & Gamble actually takes a risk with their “Men with Cramps” online viral campaign site. And, it’s really engaging and funny on top of it all. Another shocker-- there have been 13 million visitors to this site since it launched in September, but a P&G emarketing exec and I didn’t know about it when asked about viral campaigns at a panel event at the Email Insiders Summit in Utah two weeks ago. At that event, I asked him “a lot of the campaigns you showed are good but safe, what is P&G doing to compete with the caliber of viral sites like favorite Philips’ ShaveEverywhere site?” His response was that P&G has taken risks before with viral sites targeted in Europe, but plays it safe in the U.S.
After reviewing the site, MenwithCramps.com is now among my Top 5 favorite viral sites for 2006. This goes to show that when P&G gets in the game, they do it right. So, what makes this campaign site so good? First, the concept is brilliant. It’s really challenging to break the mold and gain attention, authenticity and loyalty when discussing an uncomfortable subject like menstrual cramps. To make it an easier conversation, P&G created a site that shows just how wimpy men would be if they had to deal with this kind of pain on a monthly basis. Second, the primary call-to-action on the site immediately draws the viewer into a series of hilarious video clips starring the fictional Dr. Fardel, who is on a mission to cure four different men with cramps with a unique remedy for each man. The tone of each video clip (15 in total) is playful in nature and opens our minds to how sensitive men can really be.
Lastly, the storyline is consistent and the content keeps coming. There is so much depth to this site-- it has captured my attention for at least half an hour, viewing all of the Dr. Fardel video clips and the Seven-Part Video Documentary of the “History of Men with Cramps.” I have been profoundly informed that my forefathers had this very serious disease known as “Cyclical Non-Uterine Dismenorrhea.” My only critique is that my eye was never drawn to the viral aspect of sending it to friends until I stumbled upon the “Educate your Friends” link. Kudos to P&G for creating such a sticky online campaign that holds the viewer’s attention and laughter for far longer than any other viral site I’ve seen.
-- Ryan Buchanan, president & CEO, eROI
It’s a well known equation. Consumers are time starved. If you expect them to listen to your spiel, you’ve got to offer them something of value (it roughly comes out to TIME = MONEY). The equation is well known, but beyond premiums, coupons and other discounts marketers seem to have a hard time coming up with that “something of value.” Thanks to the brilliant work of Kirt Gunn & Associates, I gave P&G almost a whole hour of my time to listen to marketing messages for ThermaCare’s Menstrual Cramp Relief heat pads.
I am sometimes prone to hyperbole but I don’t think it is a stretch to say that “Men with Cramps” is the single funniest piece of advertising that has ever been produced in the history of the world. It’s not just “advertising funny” (think Where’s the Beef) it’s funny funny (think SNL). By focusing the creative on selling the simple idea that cramps really really hurt, Kirt and Gunn were freed from having to awkwardly work in references to the product name and benefits. The comedy never felt like it was selling out to the product.
But does that not selling out to the product effectively sell a product? I hope so, but I don’t know. I won’t run out and buy a box of ThermaCare Menstrual Cramp Relief pads, but I now know they exist. And thanks to the character Jrzyk, I did come away with a good understanding of how cramp pain feels. “It’s like a raccoon is in my stomach and my stomach is made out of trash.”
-- Patrick Barrett, senior interaction designer, Bazaarvoice