The Nothing Burger

Lately, I have seen some advertising from Zyn (tobacco) and Byrna ("less lethal weapons") that are really suffering from a lack of interesting takes. I get it – there are a ton of advertising restrictions in the U.S. around both these items and/or maybe they shouldn't be advertising at all. But I was forced to see them, and they irritate me because I know there is a better way. I'm not here to argue for or against any of it. I'm here because I'm tired of being forced to watch nothing burgers.

A Commercial About Nothing

Let's start with Zyn, which is a smokeless tobacco. And when I say "about nothing" I do not mean in the Seinfeldian way where the mundane becomes funny. I mean nothing at all. The whole commercial is just generic lifestyle bits of 30-40ish people going on about their day. At only one point does someone take a tin out of their pocket and pop one in their mouth. The commercial could have been for gum, breath mints, weight loss, vitamins? This goes back to my earlier point about how it is often hard to show what people do these days since a lot of it involves either staring at a screen or sucking on a nicotine packet. They're not really doing anything outward.

And, yes, I get that they are working with mad restrictions, but what about making the absence of the product interesting? What if that was the whole concept? Is concept dead? What if mundane was funny? Could they take a page out of perfume advertising? Those are generally commercials about nothing as well – since you can't see a smell – but at least they have a feeling and sometimes an interesting editorial look. The perfume packaging design is also a huge signal. But if you're not really going to try, then why bother.

Note: I cannot find the Zyn video online. Truly, you're not missing anything.

A Banana That's Not A Banana

I have been seeing this one a lot from a company called Byrna who sells what they call "less lethal" weapons. That in itself seems like a marketing term. Like why not non-lethal? It's a weird category to get into a non-stick vs stick resistant sort of vibe. But anyway, since I guess they can't show the actual product, people are walking around talking about it, but holding...a banana. And why is the banana half peeled? Did someone decide that makes it less weird? Then at the end, she takes a bite out of it? But isn't it a stand in for a weapon? Who is making and approving these decisions? Oh, right.

Again, I think there are better ways to do this – a more over the top prop? What about illustration/animation instead of live action? Less the banana, the vibe is meant to be a bit scary, but that is cancelled out by the most clichéd comedic prop in history. I really, really want her to drop it and the creepy guy behind her slips on it. The hook at the end is, of course, visit their website to see the actual thing. If I had not been moved to write this article, I would not have been moved to do that. Spoiler: it looks exactly like a gun.

Advertising loves to complain that attention is getting more and more rare – which is true. But it's not just products that have restrictions like these that are a snooze. No wonder people are putting their attention elsewhere. We have to give them something interesting or entertaining to pay attention to.