GS&P NY Makes Uncomfortable Calls for ZocDoc

By Erik Oster 

Goodby Silverstein & Partners New York launched a couple of comedic 30-second spots featuring uncomfortable healthcare-related calls for digital healthcare service ZocDoc, encompassing the brand’s first major advertising campaign.

In “Rabies,” an impatient woman tries to get her appointment pushed up by claiming to have rabies. She explains that she contracted the disease while “saving some children from a coyote,” and has a handy excuse for losing her temper. In “Private Call,” meanwhile, a woman whispers her embarrassing symptoms while at the office. Both spots end with the line “Doctors when you want them,” and the “Get Better Better” tagline. The comedic approach, highlighting the absurdities of dealing with healthcare, works well for the brand, finding a funny way to show how the service can help improve customers’ lives.

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“We’re all at the mercy of a broken healthcare system in which many of us can relate to an experience that is absurd and Kafka-esque,” ZocDoc head of brand marketing Richard Fine told Fast Company. “Our campaign finds humor in that shared experience. It makes light of these unnecessarily painful parts of the health care system. Technology has changed every part of our lives. How about—finally—health care?”

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