December 21, 2010

Review: Fast Brite

Description: A cleaner for cloudy headlights
Main Pitch: "Brings your headlights back to showroom new in as little as 30 seconds"
Main Offer: $10 for one bottle of polish, one bottle of protectant
Bonus: Double the offer (just pay S&H)
Website: www.TryFastBrite.com
Prediction: Unlikely to succeed

This commercial features what I sometimes call a "contrived" problem. That's when you start with a product and try to contrive a DRTV-level problem for it to solve. In this case, the creative team did their best, but I seriously doubt most people are going around concerned about hazy headlights -- especially since that concern is all about prevention (i.e. preventing an accident).

Another way to evaluate advertising, in general, is to focus on the promise an ad makes. In this case, the promise is restoring your headlights to "showroom new." But I can't think of anyone who would care about that. Restore a car's finish to "showroom new"? That I get. But its headlights? It's an odd idea and more evidence that this one's a stretch.