COULD AMBIEN BE LOVED (for the right reasons)?

While I don’t usually praise the creativity of pharmaceutical marketing, I have to hand it to Ambien. In one short tweet they took social media by storm and generated a buzz around the brand never-before-seen in its history. When Rosanne Barr tweeted she was “Ambien tweeting” when she wrote her now infamous post about Valerie Jarrett, Ambien quickly responded saying: “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.” The response was simply brilliant—and it fueled a ton of tweets from all different types of people across the country (#Ambien).
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a reason Ambien is a controlled substance. And, the internet is littered with people telling stories about how they took an Ambien and did something really stupid (read about other dumbasses here). In fact, maybe that’s why Rosanne threw out the idea—because there’s a lot of people out there that would actually believe it. Nonetheless, the brand’s action in what could have been a very negative situation for the company makes me want to love them a bit.
Sure they haven’t followed all the principles we at DNA subscribe to in Uncovering Love for a brand. However, it could be the first step in getting there. They’ve touched on our belief that people will always care more about who you are and what you stand for than what you sell. It’s a simple truth that others like Patagonia and even P&G have practiced over the years. Because if you can get this right—and honestly it’s not easy—then the tactics used to build the love-worthy relationship (like a funny little tweet) become secondary.
So come on Ambien, continue to do what you’re doing and create a brand of love!