A few of you may already be familiar with Campbell's Chunky Soup curse, where football players who star in their commercials go on to face bad luck, injury and/or early retirement. Well, unfortunately, Dr Pepper has been having a devastating association on a much greater scale. Read more for more...
Young and Rubicam New York produced three "duo" spots for Dr Pepper to run in 2003. Here's what happened... (Note: You must be a superadgrunt to view spots)
Spot#1 - LL Cool J and Run DMC. On Oct 30, 2002, Run DMC's Jason Mizell (Jam Master J) was shot and killed before the commercial went to air. For the first few weeks of broadcast in 2003, it ended with a tribute to the fallen DJ. His murder remains unsolved.
Spot#2 - Cyndi Lauper and Anastacia. Anastacia was diagnosed with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (a type of breast cancer) in January, and underwent a seven hour surgical procedure on February 10. She's been given the all-clear, but as of a month ago was still facing radiotherapy. We at Adland wish her the best.
Spot#3 - Paulina Rubio and Celia Cruz. On July 16, Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz passed away after struggling with a brain tumor. She was given a grand farewell in Manhatten last week.
Coincidences? I certainly hope so (Dr Pepper is my carbonated beverage of choice), but it is unsettling and tragic. As for the commercials, I still consider them to be brilliant. To find out more about breast cancer and learn how to perform a self-examination, please visit BreastCancer.org.
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Disturbing but I'm sure it's an anomoly. I'm a Doctor Pepper fan too and will continue to be so. I just hope the spokespeople for 2004 will receive the other end of the karmic swing.
Thanks also for pointing towards the breast cancer link and taking the high road on this. Perhaps it will help some girls in detecting problems before they become worse. It would be nice to see if Doctor Pepper tailored commercials two and three towards cancer awareness like they honored Jam Master J in the LL Cool J Run DMC commercial.
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PermalinkThat would be a masterful PR move. I guess we'll wait and see. Good suggestion.
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PermalinkThat is scary freaky unnerving.
I wonder if Mr. Pibb is secretly responsible?
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PermalinkOn the other hand, if we can just get George W. (the puppet) and Dick Cheney (the puppeteer) to do a spot together...either way, we're better off.
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PermalinkSo it's not 'just what the Doctor ordered' anymore huh?
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Permalinkgreat PR idea - they should take your advice and do that.
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Permalinkgotta be the worst pun of the year!
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PermalinkBut Cyndi Lauper and Paulina Rubio was out of the curse? Or there maybe a curse in itself being Cyndi Lauper? ;)
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