Ramsey Naja is CCO at JWT MEA
“As we all know, it takes more muscles to frown than to smile. What we know less is that either action is central to something called biofeedback, which can be summarised as an effortless way to cheer up a grumpy girlfriend without recourse to shopping. You see, biofeedback, at its most basic level, involves the zygomaticus – the cheek muscle that controls your smile. Its theory states that, if you were to pull that zygomaticus deliberately and force yourself to smile, you would confuse your brain enough to think that, hey, taxi, I am lagging behind, and promptly release the hormones associated with a happy state of mind that would normally have caused the smiling. Result: a feeling of smilyness that has nothing to do with reality.
Why the pseudo-bio-psychological lesson? I hear you ask. Well, advertising, that’s why. You see, our screens, billboards and magazines are full of, how can I say it, zygomatic ads. We are zygo heroes. We zygo everything from toothpaste to hair transplant clinics, so much so that the smiley figure should actually be our copyright. This is not to say that our advertising should feature grumpy curmudgeons, no. But comes a time when it really is too much. I have this theory, me, that anyone can be a relatively successful creative by following a foolproof formula – call it the Zygomatic Principle. It’s a simple template that, in TV, goes like this: “Family – happy – happy – happy – problem, so less happy – product – happy happy – packshot”. Voila! Apply this infinitum and you will pass quali research with flying colours and be forever described as a safe and reliable pair of hands, with all the sexiness that comes with it.
Nobody wants advertising to be a documentary-styled reflection of reality. But the excess of zygomatic advertising means we are often seen as detached from reality because, no matter how hard we try, biofeedback will never measure up to the real thing.”