Unsettlingly unsubtle: Herpecin L

by Alex Zavlaris

When it comes to naming a product, it’s probably smart not to pick a name that would be embarrassing for your customers to purchase.  One would think that this is pretty obvious advice, but as it turns out, it apparently is not.

While I was watching TV the other night I came across an ad for a product known as Herpecin L.  The commercial promoted the product as being the number one treatment for cold sores and fever blisters.  The most comical aspect of the commercial is how carefully scripted it was, and how much the actors on screen avoided using the word herpes while talking about a product called Herpecin L.  It’s funny because while the people who made the commercial knew to avoid the word herpes as much as humanly possible; the people who actually made the product don’t seemed bothered by it.

Herpecin L is a product that is meant to be a fast acting remedy for people who suffer from cold sores and fever blisters.  Cold sores, for those unfamiliar with the term, are red bumps that are similar in appearance to small pimples, and are found on over 40% of Americans at some point during the year.  Cold sores are known by a different name in the medical world, a nastier name that rattles even the most confident person’s ego. In the medical world cold sores are known as herpes type 1, or oral herpes.

I think the point here is that there are two different names for this common affliction. One of these names people are totally ok with and the other is extraordinarily embarrassing. Why would you choose the embarrassingly named product if you have a choice? Sure, that bump on your lip is oral herpes, but if you’re standing next to a hot girl (or boy) in line at the drug store and she sees that you have Herpecin, she probably won’t want to talk to you. If she sees that you have Abreva (which is used for the same thing) chances are she’s none the wiser. At least this way, when you get shot down it won’t be because of the little box you’re holding.

Perhaps the people of Herpecin L should have focused more on the end result of what the product does rather than the affliction that it treats. Instead of calling it “Herpecin L: For fast cold sore relief,”  maybe they should have tried something as easy as: “Relieficin L: For fast cold sore relief.”  The fine print that accompanies a product like this says more than the name would ever have to, so why humiliate the person trying to buy your product by highlighting the affliction that it is sold for?

People, by and large, would even prefer a product with a name that they don’t understand over one that puts the ailment in big type on the front of the box.  For example, I have no idea what Tinactin means, but I do know that I’d pick it up before I touched a product called FOOT FUNGUS FIX.  Sure, I’d be able to understand the purpose of the second product a little quicker—I just wouldn’t be caught dead holding it.

So to the people making Herpecin L:  Sometimes it’s better to be subtle. Remember that less, in many ways, can be more. Condoms aren’t called semen catchers, but people are still familiar with what they do.  I’d pick up a product called Relieficin L and happily read a bit to see whether or not it is for cold sores. However, If I can avoid it, I wouldn’t pick up Herpecin L and have to live in shame when someone opens my medecine cabinet at a party.  If at all possible, allow the consumer to purchase your product with confidence, not shame.