• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 31, 2018

When you’re trying to promote a product like this, a little scatological humor goes a long way. Just ask Squatty Potty.

The product I refer to is Air Wick V.I.P. pre-poop spray. I didn’t know it existed either, but I sure wish it had been around when I was growing up in a modest house with just one bathroom for the entire family.

It’s a product you spray in the toilet bowl before making poo-poo.

Air Wick is part of Reckitt Benkiser, a longtime client of Havas, whose New York office has come up with a new campaign for the pre-poop spray called “Very Important Poopers.”

Installment No. 1 features an airline pilot in midflight on the crapper, which is why I guess they have co-pilots and auto-pilot technology. When you gotta go, you gotta go, right?

Anyway, the spot opens with a close-up of the “very important pilot,” so you think he’s in the cockpit. But then the camera pans out to let you see exactly which seat the captain is sitting on.

“Folks, when I drop off my cargo at 30,000 feet, I use VIP,” the pilot tells us. “I don’t use aerosols. Because why would I let odors get in the air in the first place?"

After a brief shot explaining how the product works, it’s back to the captain with another scatological yuck: “If you expect nasty tailwinds go with VIP.”

It really does look like the kind of fake ad that 'SNL' comes up with from time to time. You can judge for yourself how funny it is here.

Additional ads in the campaign, appearing on TV and online, will be unveiled early next year.

It seems like just yesterday Jenny McCarthy and shoemaker Candies raised a big stink with ads showing her clad in Candies while squatting on the potty, underwear around her ankles.

That was 21 years ago. These Airwick ads? Doubt anyone will bat an eyelash. But if you’re into poop humor, you might get a chuckle.