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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Roche Rocks? With Impedance!

There are times when a picture--or a video--is worth a thousand words and simultaneously leaves you speechless. This is one of those times. (email/RSS subscribers if you can't see the video, click here to view it.)

Call Roche's XCelligence rock video a piece of intelligent (marketing) design--we aren't completely sure what the rock band is trying to sell. Hair products? Leather? Tattoos? An '80s rock compilation? How about a pioneering "microelectronic biosensor system for cell-based assays providing dynamic, real-time, label-free cellular analysis for a variety of research applications in drug development, toxicology, cancer, medical microbiology, and virology"? Seriously, WTF?

Take a moment and savor the Def Leppard/Poison/Guns N Roses/Van Halen mash-up that harkens back to a different time, when real men wore headbands and codpieces.

It's tempting to speculate that this video and a companion ballad piece (because all great Heavy Metal bands have a sensitive side too--see the ballad below) are the true reason behind Art Levinson's departure from Genentech. He doesn't have the locks--or the ink or the tongue (?)--to be the David Lee Roth/Gene Simmons wannabee.

Or maybe it just proves what Genentech lovers have said all along: Roche clearly could afford to spend more than $95-a-share on the iconic biotech. At the very least we hope the videos make you smile.

Bio-rad? Your move.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

FYI...your RSS feed seems to have stopped working as of a few posts back.

Chris Morrison said...

thanks. i think it should be working again now.
chris

Anonymous said...

Thanks, it is working again now.

rob said...

I believe the band is called Steel Panther... http://www.steelpantherrocks.com/It's bizarre

Amy Brown said...

If we're talking about bizarre videos to promote geeky science kits, then we can't forget Eppendorf's spoof boy band video for EP Motion, an automated pipetting machine. They even added a ring tone option!! http://www.eppendorf.com/int/hawkpopup.php?contentid=13

Unknown said...

It all makes sense now....I was wondering why Roche had a Guitar Hero set up in their booth at AACR.