Incyte is asking viewers to imagine a drug ad that provokes more excitement than eye rolls. Attaching a self-deprecating opening to an Opzelura TV spot, the biotech serves up a typical pharma ad while having a little fun with the responses such commercials can provoke.
The ad, which was created by agency Klick Health, opens with a man trying to lift a barbell weight in a garage before cutting to a shot of a woman sitting on a sofa. As the camera crash zooms in, we see the woman in a state of agitated excitement, shouting “quick, there’s a pharmaceutical commercial coming on.”
Fast cuts between the woman, the weight-lifting man and a younger man, who is scratching his neck, show the excitement is shared by the other members of the household. The ad is clearly an unmissable event. After checking whether the ad is “the pharmaceutical commercial” and “the eczema one,” the men make mad dashes to the sofa.
The woman is unable to control her excitement, banging her arms up and down and knocking over her popcorn. The younger man dashes down the stairs, while the weightlifter is so pumped he knocks down a door as he charges to take a seat for the ad.
Once everyone is on the sofa, the ad cuts to a shot showing what the three people are seeing. A TV in the room shows a young woman next to the words “mild to moderate eczema.” The camera starts zooming in, and soon all we see is the ad. All that happens in around 18 seconds.
The ad plays it straight once the self-deprecating framing device ends and is exactly the sort of TV spot that gets a gentle ribbing during the madcap opening. In fact, the ad within the ad is a reworked version of a TV spot Incyte ran last year. The young woman plays croquet and kicks a piñata that spells “itch” while asking viewers to imagine a medicine with a particular profile.
“Imagine this, a mild to moderate eczema treatment that targets inflammation at a key source, right where you need it, without steroids. Imagine using one single cream to help clear skin and kick the itch. It's not imaginary. It’s Opzelura,” the woman says.
Incyte is running the ad after a bumpy period for Opzelura, sales of which disappointed investors in the first quarter but rebounded in the second quarter. Leo Pharma is preparing to launch a rival topical JAK inhibitor market in Europe this year.