General practice needs a boost and marketing expert Professor Candid is the man for the job.
‘General practice is like an old Bentley,’ explains Prof. ‘It used to be a great car but its engine block has rusted, grass has grown in between the seats and rainwater is leaking in through the roof. The only good thing about it is the badge, which is where I come in.’
Prof Candid worked on an advertising campaign in the 1990s called ‘corns with horns’ which glamourised high street chiropody by using an image of Marilyn Manson licking a young woman’s toes. And now he’s turned his talents to general practice.
‘My ad campaign for general practice starts with a hipster,’ explains Prof. ‘He’s sipping artisan coffee at a barrel somewhere in London. He then hops onto a penny farthing and pedals along cobbled side streets to attend a house call, his stethoscope flapping in the breeze. When he gets there he realises there’s no elderly patient, he’s actually been invited to a party of like-minded 20-somethings who are all bouncing and jiggling around having loads of fun. When the camera cuts back outside we can hear the music thumping in the background as another young hipster GP gets off her Vespa GTS, shakes out her hair and knocks on the door.’
‘I think the campaign reflects modern day general practice,’ concludes Prof. ‘It’s not all cardigans, coughs and colds! And I know it will work because young people, when all is said and done, are shallow self-centred bastards.’
