''The Drugs I Need'' is a

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

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

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 uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...

Plot

The animation

parodies A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

a regular

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, 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 medical field and ...

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

, 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, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is secondary to the one intended; although the term is predominantly employed to describe adverse effects, it can also apply to beneficial, but unintended, consequence ...

are sung to an upbeat

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

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 meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

, which emphasizes that the consumer 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 c ...

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 or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

Reception

The video won the

Public Affairs Council The Public Affairs Council (PAC) is a professional association for people working in public administration and policy. Its mission is to advance the field of public affairs and provide resources to public affairs executives and managers to help ...

'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