contrapositive

ZYRTEC'S SAVVY DRAMATURGY The central quandary facing prescription drug advertisers since the FDA tightened its regulation of TV spots in 1997: How to tick off a list of creepy warnings and ominous-sounding potential side-effects without frightening viewers or prompting them to burst into laughter.

While commercials have slowly grown more adept at tackling this problem, a spot that's currently running for allergy medication Zyrtec (side-effects include, "drowsiness, headaches, sore throat, and stomach pain") sets a new standard.

The commercial begins with a pair of corporate-types preparing, with their boss, for The Big Presentation. One of the presenters suffers from allergies.

After the scene has been set and the tension (such as it is) begins to mount, we move with the presenters to a long hallway sequence, and ultimately, to the moment when one of the presenters takes the podium before a packed auditorium.

What's novel about the ad? In a savvy dramaturgical gambit, the commercial delivers its litany of side-effects during the superfluous-feeling, dramatically irrelevant hallway scene in the middle of the ad, rather than tacking them on at the end.

Nothing earth-shattering, granted. But Pfizer appears to be taking a lesson of Narrative Storytelling 101--that viewers lose interest when plots lose momentum--and turning it on its head: The spot deliberately courts audience distraction before the totality of its message has been communicated.

It's a risky strategy, one banking on the assumption that viewers can be jarred back to attention once the drama resumes. But the ad's approach makes it feel a lot less awkward than the other drug commercials currently on the air...

My guess is that we'll see it emulated in the coming months.