The spoof ad I chose was for Prozac, a common antidepressant that is prescribed by many doctors to help people with depression. The ad uses the image of a 50’s housewife, hugging the box designed to look like laundry detergent. Comments like “mood brightener” and “wash your blues away” are seen on the front of the box. It is estimated that 5% of adults suffer from depression (WHO) so this is an issue that is facing a large portion of the world. I think that this piece was created to show that you cannot just fix all of your problem simply by taking a pill. Especially in the United States, big pharma are leaders in the capitalist agenda, feeding off the lower class and little access to affordable health care. I think the motivation for the creation of this piece was to display that you cannot just “wash your blues away” by taking the “happy pill”.

Adbusters does not take any funding from adverting, corporate sponsorships, or government/foundation grants, so they are 100% reader supported. This allows them the complete freedom to create whatever content they want, without fear of upsetting “the big guys”.

The social change this piece is displaying is the need for better resources for those suffering from depression. There is so much more that goes into learning to heal and still enjoy life while experiencing depression. One drug is not a one size fits all situation, there are other tools that are needed to become “better than ever”. I think that this medium fits well, especially since the imagery of the housewife and the 50’s-esque branding fits the time period for posters and billboards. The bright colours and fonts remind me of advertisements from the 50’s, such as this one from Budweiser.

This medium is very fitting considering the design. The thing about this ad that interested me was the housewife imagery. For many decades the woman’s job within the nuclear family and home was to bear children and maintain the home. Postpartum depression affects 1 in 7 women within the first year of giving birth (PPD.org) which may be why the housewife was chosen. This poster was interesting to me as depression is something that I have been around for much of my life, thus the discussion is very important to me. I think that the juxtaposition of a happy, bright advertisement and the truth that many suffering from depression deal with makes a compelling argument. This publishing medium was the right choice for this social change movement, and I think that it really challenges big pharma and the stigma that one pill can fix everything.

Photo by Scott Webb from Pexels

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