Post-absurd

When I saw this ad, I immediately thought, "It's Happy Fun Ball!" (And the You Tube comments show that I wasn't the first to have that reaction.)

Then I began to wonder, what comes after reductio ad absurdum? The reduction has gone all the way through absurdity and shot out the other side in a shower of hilariously deadpan side effect shrapnel.

Maybe the pharmaceutical industry is banking on (and the banking industry is farming) a simple familiarity effect. We see something over and over again and the rough edges and qualifiers get sanded away. What remains is a general sense that what is familiar has social authority and must be credible.

This is similar to, though not identical with, the findings of Norbert Schwartz and his colleagues who have found that repeated exposure to claims leads us to remember them as true even if they are clearly identified as false when presented. This effect is especially strong among older people which may help explain why drug warnings don't have the alarming, self-defeating, absurd effect that they might.

So, in summary:

• Do not taunt Farmosilec
• Farmosilec may cause genital deformation, kidney failure, death and cannibalism (in that order)
• Farmosilec should not be handled by carbon-based life forms
• Farmosilec may cause disorientation and temporary blindness to patent(ed) absurdity
• Ask your doctor if Farmosilec is right for you

Comments

[Charles]

I was in the States last year and couldn't stomach the pharmaceutical ads (Lisa looks like she's put some weight on).

But this I mostly like. It's a very honest ad. It does beg the question why say it's illegal to sell DMT in the modern world but this is OK.

I can't help but feel that owning your own body is a money spinner in the US but owning your mind isn't.

I've only one complaint. The lift muzak playing during the health warning is creepy. Some honest Wagnerian Tristan & Isolde Reiner would have earned full on admiration for that.