Lynch Directs Alka-Seltzer Plus By Beth Heitzma

CHICAGO - Appropriately, even the break date for the first of Foote, Cone & Belding/Chicago's TV spots for new client Miles Inc., had an element of surprise.

A 30-second spot for Alka-Seltzer Plus directed by mercurial film director David Lynch aired last week during the first American League Championship Series game, a week ahead of schedule due to a cancellation.
The complete three-spot pool begins airing nationally today. In each spot, a cold sufferer starts out miserable, only to be swept up by the bubbles of Alka-Seltzer first into a fizzy dream state and then to a surreal sky full of clouds, only to be returned to daily life revived. Two of the spots close with the tag, ‘Nothing rushes relief like Alka-Seltzer Plus.’ The third is for flanker brand Alka-Seltzer Plus Night Time.
FCB kept quiet about the spots and Lynch’s involvement during and after the shoot, but the director is said to have assumed broad control over the production (ADWEEK, August 2).
‘Signing Lynch was a coup for the agency,’ said one member of FCB’s creative department. ‘Lynch is hip and everyone’s happy, including the client.’
Copyright Adweek L.P. (1993)