Mr. Long Johns Is Devastated

Here's another commercial where it feels like we're missing a hunk of the story:



This Triaminic commercial is mercifully short, but its quick run time creates a bizarre reality in which a little boy's fever is of grave concern, in order, to the child's mother, the family dog, and a possibly completely unrelated man in red long johns who's chopping wood. Somehow, in the middle of his chore, he discovers that this kid has a pretty bad fever and then completely loses it. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he cries, cursing the heavens that such a tragedy has befallen a child of nebulous relation.

The mother's anxiety is obviously warranted. The dog's (captioned) involvement is trite, sure, but at least it's kind of sensible, since the dog seems to belong to the kid's family and is in proximity to the sick kid, and it's an excuse for the admen to shove a cute animal into the spot. But how did they arrive at the fourth character in this little drama? What sort of communal freakout led to the creation of the random, old-timey wood splitter? Is he the child's dad? Uncle? The madness tinged neighbor who had been planning the ritualistic murder of the boy and is enraged by the prospect of a virus claiming his prize first? The commercial doesn't make it clear. What is clear is that the writers of this ad could have literally made ANYBODY IN THE WORLD be concerned for the well being of the sick kid and they picked Some Guy In Long Underwear.

Luckily for everybody involved, Triaminic Fever Reducer seems to have some sort of fever reducing effect and boy, mom and dog make a return to normalcy. Like most good dramas, it ends with the family pet wrapping things up... but we in the audience are left with a nagging in our guts... sure, the dog knows the boy feels better, but what about the mysterious lumberjack? Sadly, the most likely option is that the registered telegram carrying news of the child's recovery comes too late, and Mr. Long Johns has already taken his own life from sheer grief. Alas, we don't get to see the dog summarize it with a succinctly barked out, "Now he's dead."