AstraZeneca Staffers Want to Know: Why Doesn't Their Symbicort Lady Have a Face?
It's a minor mystery in the drug world that's become a topic of debate among AstraZeneca (AZN)'s Symbicort sales staff: Why, in TV commercials for the asthma drug, is the presenter represented as a pitch-black silhouette and not a real person? (Video below.)
The denizens of CafePharma -- the online bulletin board where pharmaceutical reps vent their frustrations and spread gossip in the safety of anonymity -- have some blunt ideas on the topic.
The ads began two years ago and show a woman addressing the camera about her asthma symptoms. In each ad, she is shown only in heavy shadow, or as an animated black silhouette. It's an unusual tactic for a drug commercial -- companies normally want the most appealing actors possible for their brands, not ones with shadowy, obscured faces.
The most recent Symbicort ad even started a guessing game on YouTube and CafePharma as to who the silhouette actually is. The smart money seems to be on actress and model Karyn Plonsky (pictured), who mentions being cast in a Symbicort commercial on her MySpace page.
AZ staffers have mixed feelings about the ad. Some of them think the gimmick works because it's attention-getting. Others think it's weird and distracting. Here's a sampling of their comments:
Why doesn't Symbicort lady on TV have a face? Just a black shadow. I don't get it.
She's ashamed to show her face. All Symbicort is is a combination of two old products in an old delivery system, prices like it's really a breakthrough drug, produced by a foreign company sold to take advantage of the US healthcare system. Europe revoked the patent on Symbicort, since it's an obvious" combination, remember?To add to the mystery, the Symbicort ads that feature a man do show his face. Those ads were created after feedback showed that older patients didn't relate to the faceless silhouette.She's one of the salesforce vacancies being held open. They'll put her face on when the position has been filled.
I've come to the conclusion that she's the wife of the horn player in the Zatarain Dirty Rice commercials. Since he's in shadow, too, they make a lovely couple.
it's a marketing trick so they don't have to shoot several commercials that appeal to different demographics. looking at a shadow, you don't know age, race, sex or anything
She doesn't want to self-identify...
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