There’s nothing regular about Activia’s ads There’s this ad for Dannon’s Activia that’s in heavy rotation on the Game Show Network. (That’s right, I have no life.) I feel queasy every time it comes on, yet I cannot turn away. At first, it seems like your typical commercial setup, with a couple of women roommates discussing the health benefits of the product, which is apparently a lowfat yogurt that contains “Bifidus Regularis,” a “probiotic culture that can help regulate your digestive system.” Now, “Bifidus Regularis” itself sounds fishy, but that’s a bit off point. It’s the numbing, robotic stylization and fusion of messenger and message that sets my teeth grinding. These two women (apparently students, as one mentions “exams”) deliver their lines like digestively unregulated Stepford wives. The dialog seems out of sync and disconnected. One of the women complains she’s “made” to eat pizza and Chinese food. Who makes her? What exams? The women smile at inappropriate times, sharing a secret only they understand. Their tacky, Three’s Company-style bungalow, brightly lit but blurry around the edges, enhances the sinister mood. At the spot’s close, there’s just one roommate, happily regulated, all dressed up to go out. It’s as if they’ve morphed into a single person, making Activia consumption the ultimate act of conformity. Either Activia (which Dannon admits is “alive”) has taken over their minds and will one day regulate the entire world (like The Stuff from the ’80s cult movie), or else I’ve given this far too much thought and really should stop watching GSN and get a life. —Posted by David Gianatasio

August 1, 2006 | Permalink

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Comments

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I, too, am completely freaked out by this ad. The acting: is it brilliant or just nutty?

Actress one: I'm bloated (sigh!) irregularrr...

Actress two: It's stress from exams (wink! Or is that a twitch of some kind?) ...I eat Activia (wink/twitch! Nod) EVERY day.

O...K. You're not gonna catch *me* eating the stuff!

And then, at the end...which of them is speaking? Looks like the face of actress two with the hair of actress one: "Let's get outta here." (Wink, smile.) Run, don't walk, sister! Maybe the yogurt is *over*regulating these two somehow, blending them into one yogurt-buying automaton.

Of course, if I'm commenting here, I must have less of a life than DG. But I do think
GSN rocks -- at least, when they show classic Match Games.

Posted by: CKL | Aug 1, 2006 10:39:03 AM

I'd love to read your essay on the HeadOn ad.

Posted by: CorruptedJournalist | Aug 1, 2006 11:16:14 AM

that commerical makes me want to take a dump

Posted by: Matt Brand | Aug 1, 2006 12:33:41 PM

The casting is also way off. They're about 10 years too old to be coeds.

Posted by: binky | Aug 1, 2006 12:48:53 PM

did u know that in over here in England the advert says "Bifidus digestivum"? which makes it even more fishy...

Posted by: me | Aug 1, 2006 2:20:23 PM

These are the kind of projects where you’d pay money to view:

• The list of names generated in the brainstorming session that ultimately produced Bifidus Regularis (can’t believe someone didn’t think to use Biff Henderson as a spokesman)

• The original casting tapes — the auditions had to be priceless

• The focus group responses

• The animators designing the bowel-flushing mnemonic

• The creative team and producer trying to sell the board to directors

Posted by: HighJive | Aug 1, 2006 6:36:16 PM

On AC, we like to refer to this product as "the girl poopin' yogurt."

Posted by: American Copywriter | Aug 2, 2006 8:47:26 AM

binky:

Ew! ;-P

I do want to add, though, that the acting really is mesmerizing. I kind of hope both actresses (especially the winking woman) get more work soon, and not just for my amusement. It's a memorable spot, and I think there's something to be said for that. Seriously.

Posted by: CKL | Aug 2, 2006 11:13:38 AM

I admit that I have been sucked in. Now I, too, am regular. Come, join us.

Posted by: chickenpoet | Sep 13, 2006 5:44:52 PM

I like at the end of the new Activia when the girls are walking on the beach, wearing sweat pants that, let's just say, really show off their features.

Posted by: Dan | May 2, 2007 7:12:11 PM

The asses look amazing. I love that commercial. Heh...

Posted by: Trigg | Oct 1, 2007 12:23:20 AM

You all really need to get a life....

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