Clash of the Commercials I - Lather. Rinse. Annihilate.


Two commercials go head to head in our Free-For-All AdLand Creative Death Cage.*
Who wins? Who gets left clogging the drain? You decide - that's what comments are for.


In this corner, it's JWT's Sunsilk. In the other corner, it's Leo's Herbal Essences. Ding! And there's the bell.

* Actually, it's more like a one bedroom efficiency.

Adland® is supported by your donations alone. You can help us out by buying us a Ko-Fi coffee.
Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
comment_node_story
Files must be less than 1 MB.
Allowed file types: jpg jpeg gif png wav avi mpeg mpg mov rm flv wmv 3gp mp4 m4v.
backwrite's picture

I'd go with Sunsilk. Saw the joke coming a mile away, but at least it's far removed from the usual hair-product spot. The Herbal Essence gag might have been cute if it didn't start with the usual hair-product spot.
John Backman

Holger Wilcks's picture

Definitely Sunsilk. I'm not a woman, but I once spoke to one in a bar.Based on that experience I believe the Sunsilk spot appeals much more to the target group. While the joke is obvious, the execution has a certain self-irony that reflects the value of the product: Out-hairing your friends.The Herbal Essence one must have been done by a man. No-one else would jump at the opportunity to show a naked woman taking an outdoor shower. And no-one else really thinks it's funny to show a biker with luscious, curly hair - might make for a good ad, though.rgds/holger

caffeinegoddess's picture

I prefer the Herbal Essence spot. I've never done that hair flip as it's done in the Sunsilk spot and never have seen a woman do that except in a movie or commercial.

The biker guy was more amusing, IMHO. The start of it was lame, and hair care typical, but the twist was much more unexpected - at least on first viewing.

LeslieBAP's picture

I'm a woman and I think absolutely the opposite, Holger. Seriously. I loved the biker-hair ad when I saw it a few weeks ago and even rewound it (DVRed) to show my husband. The Sunsilk spot was much more sexist, I think.

claymore's picture

If the Hairapist was a chick, would it still be sexist?
(ducks)

kurtberengeiger's picture

I'll go with JWT's Sunsilk. Just the fact that it's captioned "Hairapy Case # 48" tells me that this is an idea with legs that could branch out into an entire campaign. The Leo Burnett spot just seems like a one-off gag and nothing more.

Sputnik_Barconi's picture

Well, at least Herbal Essences stopped with the fake orgasm approach.

Dabitch's picture

Both are making fun of mane-fiends. I do like the therapy one, if only because I once had a hairflipping roommate who at a party mate her hairflipping mane-match. Seriously. Not that cartoony, but those girls were close. I was hiding in a corner with a shaven head giggling into my beer all night as they flipped on and on, it was hairlarious.

TDD's picture

I like pseudo-biker babes.

And if I could have long hair like that again, I would take care of my hair like a girl too.

Dabitch's picture

The casting saves the biker spot, as that big guy has fun with his hair-bouncy moment. :)

Arnied's picture

Sunsilk is the clear winner. I like the competition between the women.  It's a hair throwdown.  I think women spend a lot of time on their hair for just this reason.  They don't want some skank with bouncier hair taking them down in a waiting room.  The bounciest hair wins. Of course, injuries will occur in any sport.  I think the next ad should involve hair whip training. 

RLDavies's picture

I saw the biker punchline coming several miles away. In fact, I remember seeing the same joke on the Benny Hill Show in the 1970s.