Sinus Buster Pulls Controversial Commercial From Sirius Radio.
After a recent controversy over the first American radio commercial to contain mild profanity, SiCap Industries has pulled the controversial spot from Sirius Radio even though it caused an extreme spike in sales.
New York, NY (PRWEB) October 6, 2006 --
Although satellite radio is the holy grail of anti-censorship advocates, Sirius recently censored a commercial for “Sinus Buster,” the world’s first (Capsaicin) hot pepper nasal spray.
The commercial is voiced by JR Gach ("gash"), a long time terrestrial radio personality known for his outrageous honesty. Gach has been a spokesperson for Sinus Buster regionally on terrestrial radio for nearly two years, and nationally on Sirius for 8 months.
In the commercial, Gach relates his true feelings about the product that’s near and dear to his heart. With his infamous hard hitting "live read" style, Gach pounds home the truth about a product he perceives as miraculous.
"First off, I’m a customer, and Wayne’s a friend. That’s how I discovered the product. In early 2005, I approached Wayne Perry about doing endorsement-style commercials in Albany. Once I started doing spots for Sinus Buster and listeners began trying it, I got a stream of calls and e-mails from listeners hailing this stuff as a miracle. Sinus Buster even became a topic on our show. It felt great to have fans thanking me for stopping their headaches and sinus problems," says Gach.
Wayne Perry, president of SiCap Industries (makers of Sinus Buster), called Gach in late September requesting this very unusual radio spot.
Perry asked Gach to "curse with honesty".
What Gach recorded was the first mainstream radio commercial in broadcast history to use what some would term "explicit profanity."
"It’s the way real people talk. It’s no different than what you’d hear from a group of adults having any conversation," Gach said.
"When I first heard the spot I thought it was great, and now that I’ve listened to it some more ... I think it’s stupendous," says Wayne Perry.
Although Gach throws a few other explicit words into the mix throughout the 30 second commercial, his best line comes at the end; "The best sh** that ever was ... Sinus Buster."
Though Sirius Radio initially aired the commercial uncensored, they have since edited the spot bleeping out the word, “Sh**”. According to Perry, the management of Sirius has been forced to censot the spot thanks to a calculated negative publicity campaign perpetrated against them by the media.
“We love Sirius. It’s been one of our best advertising venues, but we would have never crossed over if it wasn’t for Howard Stern and his stand for free speech. It’s not like we produced some stupid smutty commercial. We didn’t do this for shock value. We did this because it was a tasteful way to get the point across that Sinus Buster is the best sh** ever,” says Perry.
The commercial was targeted to run only on Howard Stern’s channels (100 & 101). According to Rob Sasso, Director of Operations for SiCap Industries, this controversy has resulted in yet another sales spike for Sinus Buster.
“We designed the commercial to be truthful and entertaining, and it worked. We figured Howard’s fans would appreciate it, and we got several thousand positive responses from Sirius listeners who loved the commercial. Unfortunately it seems that forces more powerful than us have taken hold of the reigns”.
Sirius began bleeping the Sinus Buster spots just after the National Association of Broadcasters came out against the commercial in a recent article, but according to the Sirius sales staff, the situation is far more complicated than it seems.
“They called me on my cell phone while I was in the middle of setting up for a big trade show in Baltimore. Basically the sales manager agreed our commercial should probably run as is, but they couldn’t commit to anything before talking to the legal department,” Perry adds.
While SiCap Industries will continue to air it’s many commercials on Sirius, the company has decided to pull this controversial spot.
“We don’t want to put Sirius in a sticky situation, and although their management has been very supportive concerning this commercial, we don’t want to give their enemies a venue for complaints. While we’ve seen our sales response from Sirius increase by 10% monthly, our terrestrial radio responses appear to be diminishing. Thanks to Howard Stern and the advent of satellite radio, Sirius has the best programming and the best advertising opportunities,” says Perry.
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