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Funny and Frank!
By John Pearson
Creative Director, GráficaGroup
July 2003
 In a stroke of tongue-in-cheek brilliance, Rexall Sundown's latest spots for its joint-pain-relief product picked the perfect pitch man — Frankenstein. "The New Frank" features Boris Karloff's Frankenstein groaning and struggling to rise from the mad doctor's table. Frank is cut to a new, improved, and casually dressed man, looking eerily like a morning talk-show host.
"That was me...what a stiff!" Yes, the first line of copy may be a brutal pun. But Frank's delivery is so dry and normal that by the time we see the limber Frank doing yoga, strumming a banjo, gardening, and striking tai chi poses, it becomes laugh-out-loud funny. In its sequel, "Frank's Morning," the new Frank admits, "With my stiff and aching joints, I was not a morning person." But thanks to Osteo-BiFlex, the neck-bolted wonder is shown whipping up breakfast and jogging through his suburban neighborhood. There's something about a jogging Frankenstein with a terry-cloth headband that finishes me every time.
Real pain, no matter how great or small, is seldom funny, but if the humor is appropriate — as in these commercials — the brand and its message become so much more memorable and effective. On a serious note, studies have shown that joint-pain sufferers long to do the simple things in life without feeling pain, so Frank's activities are in line with the desires of the demographic. With a tagline like "Put some life back in your joints," I can't wait to see how Osteo-BiFlex improves Frank's relationship with his freaky bride! Kudos to Cramer-Krasselt for coming up with the idea. Kudos to Rexall Sundown for going with it!
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