''The Drugs I Need'' is a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

short made by The Animation Farm and the

Austin Lounge Lizards The Austin Lounge Lizards are a musical group from Austin, Texas, formed in 1980. The band includes founding members Hank Card and Conrad Deisler, along with Tim Wilson and Kirk Williams. The third founding member, Tom Pittman, retired from th ...

and produced by the

Consumers Union A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. Th ...

Plot

The animation

parodies A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can als ...

a regular

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

, detailing the benefits the fictional drug ''Progenitorivox'' manufactured by fictional company SquabbMerlCo whose use is not described in detail. Instead, a large number of

side effects In medicine, a side effect is an effect of the use of a medicinal drug or other treatment, usually adverse but sometimes beneficial, that is unintended. Herbal and traditional medicines also have side effects. A drug or procedure usually used ...

are sung to an upbeat

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

, which emphasizes that the

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

should buy ''Progenitorivox''— even if the

generic drug A generic drug is a pharmaceutical drug that contains the same chemical substance as a drug that was originally protected by chemical patents. Generic drugs are allowed for sale after the patents on the original drugs expire. Because the active ch ...

is half the cost— if only to be like a family on TV. The animation ends with a seemingly random

disclaimer A disclaimer is generally any statement intended to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally recognized relationship. In contrast to other terms for legally operative langua ...

, also a parody of pharmaceutical or "drug"

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

Reception

The video won the Public Affairs Council's ''Grassroots Innovation Award'' in 2006.{{cite web , last=Rikki , first=Amos , title=Health-linked trio win the 2006 Grassroots Innovation Awards for Political Advocacy Campaigns , publisher=Public Affairs Council , date=February 14, 2006 , url=http://www.pac.org/pages/staff/print/PR-GIA2006.shtml , accessdate=11 June 2013 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214013059/http://www.pac.org/pages/staff/print/PR-GIA2006.shtml , archivedate=February 14, 2006

References

External links

Video on YouTube
American animated short films Consumer Reports Flash animated films Parody films