Sleeping Pill

 

Vicks ZzzQuil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWCApuwSP3E

The drug ad that I choose is sleeping pills. Sleeping pills are helping people to get a better sleep while they are having trouble sleeping. But there are many types of sleeping pills so it is hard to choose which sleep aid is best for ourselves. The most common one are Lunesta, Ambien, Sonata, Restoril. Some of the generic sleep aids; Zaleplon, Triazolam, Belsomra. They are different brand name with it. I choose Vicks ZzzQuil because I am similar with the brand that I usually used for my cold medicine. But I had never use sleep aid before so it good for me to learn about it. I would always used VICKS dayquil and nightQuil for my cold medicine all the time. I choose this specific ad for ZzzQuil sleep aid because it look interesting about the way they advertise and the commercial compare to the other sleep aid which this brand is try to convince more people about the medicine.

History
When I search through about the zzzquil medicine, on the websites it show the history of how it started and the different type of medicine for cold, rub that they products. “VICKS” is the brand that had many medicine for cold and others. It started in 1890s, Vicks croup and pneumonia salve by the the company VICKS usually produce cold medicine Vicks VapoRub in the 1919,

Cough drops in 1931, Sinex Nasal spray in 1959, Vicks Nyquil in 1966. It was the flu epidemic in 1918, which made the sale of VapoRub increased $900,000 to 2.9 million. Later on they change they change the company name to Vicks Chemical Company. In the 1985, the company was sold to Procter & Gamble. The company started to produced zzzquil in 2012 for the sleep aid. When I look carefully at the products it say that ZzzQuil is the number one sleep aid brand. When there is “#1 selling sleep-aid brand” which make me think that they are trying show the people about their medicine based on their brand. According to the article said that the sale for the Vicks NyQuil had sales more than $100 million ( Neff, 2012 ) They launched the products on July of 2012 and started to see that the products were good sales. I can see the reviews from the people that had used the medicine and it was helpful for them to fall asleep. There are many good reviews about it. As for credentials the brand had been products others medicines before they products the ZzzQuil.

Intended Audience
I found this ad while searching the sleep aids and it is on youtube. In the commercial there is a boss that kind of bother the worker ( Hannah). I think the commercial target to adult and people that had work, family. Because in the commercial it showing how she want to get thing done and had concern about the work that need to be done. In the same time she couldn’t fall asleep. So that is why the zzzquil is work best to have a good sleep at night. The commercial talk about the medicine work well it say “ ZzzQuil help you fall asleep less than 20 minutes” which the ads try to show that the medicine work well. So many people would buy the products. It is hard when you can’t fall asleep. I personally used to have a hard time to sleep but never use the sleep pill before. I mostly used cold medicine that cause drowsiness, sleepy after use it. But for this ad showing that there are many things that Hannah worries about for tomorrow. For that reason if she use ZzzQuil she would fall asleep fast without over thinking about her boss demand her. They want the attention from the people who had trouble sleep for example, workers, college students and full time workers. I think their idea is that how life is hard for you, you don’t have think too much there is a sleep aid that can help fall asleep without any trouble.

Active ingredients
The active ingredient in zzzquil is Diphenhydramine HCL (25mg in liquicaps) , is an

antihistamine used to relieve symptoms of allergy, and common cold. This active ingredient works by blocking a certain natural substance that your body makes during an allergic reaction. Some of the side effects are drowsiness, dizziness, constipation, stomach upset, blurred vision, or dry mouth/nose/throat ( WebMD). The maximal effect is typically around two hours after a dose and can last up to seven hours.
Diphenhydramine used for insomnia and it has sedative properties. It can cause psychological dependence and cause sedation. There are many side effects when taking ZzzQuil at bedtime, it can help fall asleep more easily. That contains diphenhydramine which can blocking histamine receptor in the brain. So, when ZzzQuil blocks your histamine receptors, it causes drowsiness to help you sleep( Rodriguez, 2016). The package have the directions of how to take it which is only one dose per day. But it is dangerous if taking the medicine with alcohol or after taking it. In the commercial they don’t tell about any of the details of side effects or what is contains in it. However when you buy the ZzzQuil medicine there are warnings, usage, and active ingredients.

The ad only focus on how the medicine work well for people who had trouble sleeping. I think it true every commercial show positive side of it in order to get a good result.

Advertising Techniques
The commercial use word that convince people about the medicine, “ fall asleep less than 20 minutes” That make people want to buy it because it is hard to fall asleep when having a trouble sleep. So if it can make people fall asleep fast like that. Personally I would use this medicine because when I have a hard time fall asleep or when I wake up in the middle of the night I couldn’t sleep at all. That is why I would buy it. For that reason which make people ask the doctors for sleep aid prescription. The attention grabber in the ad is that showing the boss is still bother the worker even when she try to sleep. Which it can happen to college students as well. I would say when people had thing to be done they would be worry about it until they are finish. I would say they did really good on the commercial which they show the problems then the had the solution to it. which the last part of it as a ZzzQuil medicine.
Another thing is that “ most sleep aid have pain medicine in it but for this medicine there is no pain medicine.” Which shows on the products websites. The words are grabbing attention to the people. There are many other sleep aids over the counter, so that’s why they would any kind of method to grab people attention to buy their medicine.

Overall Opinion
Even though I haven’t try zzzquil for sleep aid. I would recommend this medicine to a friend because it just that we have to know the side effects of it and the usage. So it will not harmful to who ask the doctor advise first then look into the information about more. Not because of commercial that I would use it. It is the brand that is why I would choose to use it. We know medicine has side effects on it, so I would not use it until I talk the doctor and do some research about it first. After I get some fact about this drug, I know that it can help sleep better. But not to use it every night. As it say on the back information of the medicine which is not for children under 12. As long as people use ZzzQuil as recommended for short periods of time, it’s not likely to misuse or dependence. And asking the doctor advice before using any medicine is the best way to prevent something that can harm to our body. I would say that not to use electronic devices on when trying to sleep. Which can help sleep better when there is no distraction.

S., J., & M. (2017, October 06). ZzzQuilTM Liquicaps. Retrieved November 02, 2017, from https://vicks.com/en-us/shop-products/zzzquil-sleep-aid/zzzquil-liquicaps

Zzzquil Oral : Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing. (n.d.). Retrieved November 02, 2017, from https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-161075/zzzquil-oral/details

Diphenhydramine. (2017, October 27). Retrieved November 02, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphenhydramine

Sleeping Pills | Sleeping Aids | Sleeping Medicines. (n.d.). Retrieved November 02, 2017, from https://www.sleepassociation.org/sleeping-pills/

Wolfson, E. (2013, May 08). The Rise of Ambien: Why More Americans Are Taking the Sleeping Pill and Why the Numbers Matter. Retrieved November 02, 2017, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/elijah-wolfson-/ambien_b_3223347.html

Neff., J., & Jack Neff Jack Neff, editor at large, covers household and personal-care marketers, Walmart and market research. He’s based near Cincinnati and has previously written for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Bloomberg, and trade publications covering the food, woodworking and graphic design industries and worked in corporate communications for the E.W. Scripps Co. Follow View all articles by this author. (2012, October 15). Vicks Wakes Up Sleep-Aid Niche. Retrieved November 02, 2017, from http://adage.com/article/news/vicks-wakes-sleep-aid-niche/237720/