Describing What Happens in Get The Cure
0:01-0:05– The ad seems to be shot in the style of the Cops TV show (handheld camera operated by a cameraman following individuals in their usual activities). The cameraman is sitting in the middle seat of the back row of a car. As the ad begins, the only person visible on the screen is an average-looking, somewhat-overweight, middle-aged white man in a lab coat sitting in the front passenger seat of the car. The vehicle itself is rolling slowly through a deserted city alleyway during the middle of the night. The only light visible is coming from the car’s headlights, the outside streetlamps, and the camera’s personal light. While motioning his hands towards the view apparent through the front window, the man faces the camera and makes a remark about the general area’s current state, and how it is a mess, with a bunch of polyps running around. This mentioning of polyps is the first clue that the men are doctors.
0:06-0:09– All of a sudden a man dressed in a pink Hershey’s Kiss-shaped costume casually walks in front of the headlights a few feet from where the car is. He briefly stops in shock, like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck, before deciding to run further down the alley. The man in the passenger man quickly indicates that the costumed man is a polyp. The driver, seen only by his hands and white lab coat, quickly places the car in Park. A siren coming from the car is heard, indicating that it is most likely an ambulance (further supporting the assumption that the men are doctors). Both the man in the passengers’ seat and the driver jump out of the car. The passenger man can be heard grunting in frustration in having to pursue the costumed individual. At the same time, the camera man jerks to the right, showing him opening the door and running out to follow the action.
0:10-0:15– The shaky camera (due to the cameraman trying to keep up) shows the two men in the lab coats run furiously in the dim light after the man in the funny pink suit, similar to cops trying to catch a man attempting to evade arrest. This is an indication that he is a threat, as he doesn’t even try to cooperate with pursuers. In relation to the environment, the costumed man doesn’t seem to pose much of a threat yet, as he doesn’t appear very athletic or intimidating. Soon enough, the two men are able to capture the costumed person as he is trying to climb up a wired fence. They pull him off and tackle him on top of a pile of garbage bags and cardboard boxes.
0:16-0: 23– As the cameraman in walking backwards, the audience watches as the two men drag the costumed man by the arms back to the car. The audience can now see that the man looks like a stereotypical nerd with a slightly chubby face and thick glasses. He is in a giant pink spandex onesie that looks like a cross between a chubby red Teletubbie and the aforementioned Hershey’s Kiss (in shape). The costumed man, as he is being dragged back to the car, is yelling around, and unsuccessfully trying to escape (in a manner that makes him look like he is a drunk person trying to walk straight).
0:24-0:26– The ad then switches to a white information screen with red words that read, “colon cancer. get the test. get the polyp. get the cure.” Below the words on each bottom corner of the screen, it is shown that the ad is produced by Ad Council, and sponsored by The American Cancer Society (both accompanied by their respective logos). Finally in the bottom middle of the screen, red words can be seen saying, “1-800-ACS-2345 or cancer.org”. It can be assumed that the men in the car are performing a colonoscopy (the test), where they get the polyp (costumed man), thereby preventing any more trouble in the colon (the alley).
0:27-0:28– The ad quickly jumps back to the main action, where the costumed man (polyp) is shouting out to the camera, while being pushed into the backseat of the ambulance by the two men in lab coats (the doctors) with great effort. The “doctors” have successfully removed the “polyp” from the “colon”.
0:29-0:31– Finally, the ad returns to the information screen in order to reiterate the point, before fading to black.
Rowan Counterintuitive 