Oh, Vintage J&J Baby Shampoo Commercial. How I do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
1. First there’s the idea that the product gives gives you younger, baby-like hair. No, the ad doesn’t actually say that but the imagery of the model regressing back to babyhood certainly implies it. And that brings me to the second thing I like about this commercial.
2. The quaint special effect imagery from the early ’70s. The transitions are well done and the models are well chosen. (Except for the final baby image whose jet black eyes creep me out and make me wonder if we really have been invaded by alien”Black-Eyed Kids” who knock…knock…knock…on our doors late at night and who want to suck our souls.)
3. Finally, there’s the claim that J&J baby shampoo “brings out the baby soft shine born in your hair.” I love this claim because it sounds great and it’s almost impossible to prove or disprove. I mean how the heck can shine be “soft” in the first place? A brilliant piece of marketing copy!
(By the way, the ironic scientific side note here is that J&J recently announced they reformulated this classic product to remove Quaternium-15, a common formaldehyde-releasing anti-microbial even though the best science to date says it’s perfectly safe.)