Plumbing-company radio spots gone wild

Out here in L.A., the makers of the radio spots for Mike Diamond Plumbing are layering on the gimmicks like so many well-sweated joints. First came the bizarre suggestion that Mike Diamond’s plumbers are the “smell-good” plumbers: They show up on time and don’t stink of the sewer (until, presumably, they’re done with your job). Then they added a nifty audio mnemonic: a cartoony harp glissando every time they mention the “smell-good” feature. But now (see AdFreak’s constant crabbing about CRN’s radio gimmickry) they’ve gone too far. The spots suddenly feature some unidentified man, who knows whom, muttering favorably in the background as if serving as a Greek chorus for the commercials’ content. Could it be a disc jockey who accidentally left his mike on and just happens to agree (“Right on!”) with all of Mike Diamond’s plumbing points? Or could it be just another wacky gimmick gone wild? For more on the plumbing-advertising genre, click here. You know you want to.

—Posted by Gregory Solman

July 14, 2006 | Permalink