Barbara Lippert's Critique: Whatever You're Into

It's got a catchy hook. By MTV standards, it's very, very clean. And given the rush toward media integration, it was only a matter of time. Yes, last week the mad creative peeps at Procter & Gamble dropped their first music video, "Rock You Senseless" for Herbal Essences. It stars Jadyn Maria, who is a 19-year-old singer, not a hair band. At this point, of course, the term sellout has been moot for at least 20 years, but still, P&G doing MTV seems like an oxymoron. Obviously, the spot is not exactly gonna freak your freakin' freak out—it's expertly crafted, highly packaged dance/pop music targeting the teen and tween market. The director is Marcus Nispel, who's done videos for everyone from the Spice Girls to k.d. lang. He also directed the very successful remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A planet away from chainsaw-wielding monsters, this video features delicate-flower special effects and an industrial-strength beauty vibe. It has the feel of a music video from, say, a dark-haired Estonian Britney Spears who prefers shampooing to grinding and shakes her hair more than her booty (and they're not extensions!). But the embedding has gone way beyond product placement. The contest to appear in an Herbal Essences music video was a central plot point on an episode of the WB's top-rated What I Like About You. Jadyn appeared as a guest character on the show, where she also got to execute a major slow-mo hair swing. When Jadyn wins the competition, Holly (star Amanda Bynes) and crew gather around to watch the resultant video, about half of which actually ran within the episode. During the subsequent break to commercial, the entire spot aired again. The setup made the airing of the spot that much more memorable—a breath of real Madison Avenue on a fictionalized show (whereas on the nonfiction reality programs, the product placements can come off as phony setups). The whole branded-entertainment cycle gets a little dizzying: On the strength of her appearance in the "video" within the show, Jadyn got signed to Virgin Records, and her first album (created by the same team that manufactures, er, writes and produces songs for Britney, Avril Lavigne and Christina Aguilera) will debut in January. There's also a deal with iTunes, and the song can be downloaded for free on HerbalEssences.com. iTunes is doing something similar with U2—introducing a new song in a commercial that incorporates Bono and Co. in the patented silhouettes that previously featured random dancers. With all its integrated media opportunities, the music video is certainly an improvement for a brand that as recently as last month was still doing faux orgasm commercials. I myself was never a fan of the "organic" experience—every possible iteration of a woman in the shower faking orgasm while lathering seems downright creepy, whereas having Meg Ryan do so fully clothed, at a public deli, for the edification of her boyfriend, is funny. A later spot promoted "the urge to herbal" and featured three young muscley men in black running into a courtroom, wielding hair dryers (packing the heat of botanicals) to perform an instant shampooing makeover on a lawyer who's in the middle of arguing her case. That scene, with the guys using dryers like guns, prefigured the opening of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy by several years. But back to Jadyn and her hair-based song. She can sing (she has better pipes than Britney). She looks like someone Simon would flirt with on American Idol. As a model for young girls, she demonstrates hair-washing instead of self-fondling, so thank you, P&G. But there's the rub with making a song into a shampoo commercial: It's really much more ad than commercial release. There is a water-drenching scene, which is kind of cheesy, and naturally Jadyn sings right through it. Most videos for pop songs have sexual connotations, and this one shows a flower bud opening (and a tiny Jadyn popping out), but it's less about suggesting the Georgia O'Keefe thing and more about the product label. It's also a nice contrast to the industrial-looking set and multiple screens. The musical hook ("senseless" suggests "Essences," sort of) is contagious, and while the spot itself won't win awards for breakthrough imagery, it has some snazzy effects. Word is that going forward, the agency will look for artists on the cusp to feature in future commercials. That seems a more "organic" idea and a clean break from the fake yes yes yes.Herbal Essences AgencyThe Kaplan Thaler Group, New York"Rock You Senseless"Global creative directorLaurie GarnierCreative directorMarwan KhuriArt directorsNikki DeFeo, Mike HanleyDirector of broadcast productionLisa BifulcoProducerPhyllis LandiDirectorMarcus Nispel, MJZ, Los Angeles

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Barbara Lippert's Critique: Whatever You're Into

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Barbara Lippert