CASE STUDY: MAALOX
Problem: The memorable “Maalox Moments” campaign was long ago, and newer remedies own the agita beat.

Agency: Deep Focus
Problem: Nothing beats an old-fashioned rumor. Joey Chestnut, the newly crowned Nathan’s hot-dog-eating champ, is known for dunking buns in water before gulping them down—water that, we suggest, may have been “enhanced” with a little Maalox. A doping charge, whispered just before next year’s competition, would be a major talking point.

Agency: Amalgamated
Problem: Various devices under the tagline “Because Some Things in Life Are Hard to Stomach.” Visitors to hardtostomach.com would submit ulcer-rich stories of stress. The best would become 30-second YouTube videos and new “Maalox Moments” TV spots. We would also put Maalox coolers in offices, offering a ready supply of gastro-relief. On the street, we would hand out Pez dispensers shaped like stressed businessfolk, and distribute Maalox Shooters in front of the NYSE on days when the Dow falls 5 percent or more.

Agency: Tribal DDB
Problem: Online teaches us that people need to laugh before they can listen. A simple microsite called “The OXenator” would allow users to click and hear an array of gaseous sounds while watching video fed from YouTube. Every video out there could become the butt of a joke. Think of the movies you could make: Gaslite, Fart of Darkness, The Fartastic Four, to name a few. (Just search that glorious juggernaut YouTube under “Fart Wars” and you’ll see what an inspired online user can generate.)

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Table of Contents: Jul 16, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!