HeadOn is the

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

of a topical product claimed to relieve headaches. It achieved widespread notoriety in 2006 as a result of a repetitive commercial, consisting only of the tagline "HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead", stated three times in succession. Originally sold as a homeopathic preparation, the brand was transferred in 2008 to Sirvision, Inc., who re-introduced the product with a new formulation.

Commercial

HeadOn's notoriety came in part because of its advertisements on cable and daytime programming on

broadcast television Broadcast television systems (or terrestrial television systems outside the US and Canada) are the encoding or formatting systems for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals. Analog television systems were standardized by ...

which consisted of using only the tagline "HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead", stated three times in succession, accompanied by a video of a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

using the product without ever directly stating the product's purpose. Manufacturer Miralus Healthcare decided not to include any factual claims about the product in the spots after the National Advertising Division of the

Better Business Bureau Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 97 independently incorporated local BBB organizations in the Unite ...

objected to the claim that HeadOn provided "fast, safe, effective" headache relief made in an earlier spot. A previous campaign included the phrase "Should I know about HeadOn?" Miralus Healthcare used focus groups to try a number of potential commercials, with one focused solely on repetition; the focus groups recalled the ads much more than with any other method, although many people considered them irritating. Dan Charron, vice president of sales and marketing at Miralus, told the '' Los Angeles Times'' that nobody in the focus groups had told him that the ads were irritating.

Reception

The commercial led to a number of parodies appearing on Web sites such as YouTube, '' USA Today'' reports, including extended versions of the ad which loop the repetitive tagline for durations upwards of ten hours, eventually making it an internet meme. The

technophile Technophilia (from Greek τέχνη - ''technē'', "art, skill, craft" and φίλος - ''philos'', "beloved, dear, friend") refers generally to a strong enthusiasm for technology, especially new technologies such as personal computers, the In ...

magazine '' Make'' describes how to turn it into a

ringtone A ringtone, ring tone or ring is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. Originally referring to and made by the electromechanical striking of bells, the term now refers to any sound on any device alerting of a new incoming ...

. The commercial is parodied in the 2008 spoof film ''

Disaster Movie A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...

'' where a parodic depiction of Giselle from '' Enchanted'' is seen using the product.

Ownership transfer

On September 26, 2008, ownership of the HeadOn brand and its manufacture were transferred to Sirvision, Inc. of North America. Sirvision re-introduced HeadOn with a new formulation, claiming it now contains "a clinically proven active ingredient for topical headache relief." There were no peer-reviewed studies showing that the original HeadOn formula worked, and the scientific consensus is that homeopathic preparations do not help beyond the placebo effect. The new formulation has not yet been investigated. Sirvision Inc, which bought the product line, have stated that they intend to refocus the infamous advertisements in a "more scientific direction".

Other products

Three related products are currently produced by former manufacturer of HeadOn Miralus Healthcare: * ActivOn – described on the company's website as a topical

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

for

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In some ...

-like joint pains, in multiple formulations. Additionally, the product originally named FirstOn, a topical anti-itch product, is now called ActivOn Maximum Strength Anti-Itch. * PreferOn – A topical product containing

Vitamin E Vitamin E is a group of eight fat soluble compounds that include four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Vitamin E deficiency, which is rare and usually due to an underlying problem with digesting dietary fat rather than from a diet low in vit ...

, claimed to improve the appearance of scars * RenewIn – A pill claimed to improve joint comfort, flexibility and mobility, in multiple formulations A homeopathic

hemorrhoid Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''he ...

cream, FREEdHem, was withdrawn from the market. Like HeadOn, FREEdHem featured repetition in its ads, which said "Freedom from hemorrhoids, FREEdHem hemorrhoid cream" or "FREEdHem, the only one-application hemorrhoidal cream" three times.

Ingredients

The original homeopathic formula was purportedly developed at the Herpolscheimer clinic in Graz,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...

. It was originally distributed by Miralus Healthcare. There were two versions of HeadOn available in markets/stores: ExtraStrength and Migraine. Chemical analysis of the Migraine formulation has shown that the product consists almost entirely of

wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low ...

. The three "active ingredients" are

iris versicolor ''Iris versicolor'' is also commonly known as the blue flag, harlequin blueflag, larger blue flag, northern blue flag, and poison flag, plus other variations of these names, and in Britain and Ireland as purple iris. It is a species of ''Iris'' ...

12X, white bryony 12X, and

potassium dichromate Potassium dichromate, , is a common inorganic chemical reagent, most commonly used as an oxidizing agent in various laboratory and industrial applications. As with all hexavalent chromium compounds, it is acutely and chronically harmful to health ...

6X. The "X" notation indicates that the three chemicals have been diluted to 1

part per trillion In science and engineering, the parts-per notation is a set of pseudo-units to describe small values of miscellaneous dimensionless quantities, e.g. mole fraction or mass fraction. Since these fractions are quantity-per-quantity measures, they ...

, 1 part per trillion, and 1 part per million respectively. This amount of dilution is so great that the product has been described as a placebo; with skeptic James Randi calling it a "major medical swindle". The formula for the Extra Strength version of the product is the same as the Migraine except that it excludes the iris versicolor. Seymour Diamond, director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago and the inpatient headache unit at St. Joseph Hospital, was quoted as saying "I see nothing in this product that has any validity whatsoever." ''

Consumer Reports Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy. Founde ...

'' states that no clinical-trial data involving HeadOn have been presented, and that "any apparent efficacy may be the result of the placebo effect." Correspondence was published with a statement from ''HeadOn'' Customer Service that "It works through the nerves."

Criticisms

Unlike traditional headache medicines, the efficacy of HeadOn has not been systematically studied in any controlled scientific experimental study. In line with other homeopathic medicines, Miralus Healthcare claims that the medicinal properties of HeadOn's ingredients are released via its dilution technique.http://www.miralus.com/headon.php?link=11 However, the dilution technique leaves virtually none of the active ingredient in the product,"Analysis of Head On". James Randi's Swift. Retrieved 2006-07-27. and nowhere in scientific literature has the claim been supported that dilutions are effective in releasing the medicinal properties of any ingredients. Moreover, none of HeadOn's ingredients have any scientifically supported effectiveness in treatment of a headache. One of the ingredients, white bryony, is a highly toxic berry that is lethal if 40 such berries are ingested; however, dilution leaves virtually none of this ingredient in the product, which is why its makers can claim the treatment has no side effects (or any effects at all). Another ingredient,

goldenseal ''For the magazine from West Virginia see Goldenseal (magazine)'' Goldenseal (''Hydrastis canadensis''), also called orangeroot or yellow puccoon, is a perennial herb in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to North America. It may be di ...

(''Hydrastis canadensis''), has no known effectiveness in the treatment of any condition.Goldenseal, WebMD The efficacy of the HeadOn product is supported by a few questionable testimonials found on the Miralus Healthcare website. Miralus also markets many other questionable healthcare products containing low, if any, levels of any active ingredients.

References

External links

Official website (archived)Slate Magazine's review of the adVoice Magazine's criticism of the ad and product
{{DEFAULTSORT:Headon American television commercials 2000s television commercials Internet memes Homeopathic remedies Internet memes introduced in 2006 Film and television memes