Since today is David Lynch’s birthday, it only seems appropriate to share what may be the most obscure of David Lynch’s early short films.

From 1967, Fictitious Anacin Commercial is a one-minute short film and a commercial for a real product.  Jack Fisk, an early David Lynch collaborator who would later marry Sissy Spacek, plays a man in pain.  God shows up, holding some aspirin.  Suddenly, Jack Fisk is feeling a lot better.  However, the audience is a little bit disturbed because God seems kind of menacing.

That’s my interpretation, anyways!  David Lynch was 21 when he directed this film and it really is basically just a spoof of how commercials always act as if their product is the ultimate and only solution to whatever problem you’re having.  One gets the feeling that, for the most part, Lynch and Fisk were just amusing themselves.  And yet, because it is a Lynch film, there’s still a definitely unsettling vibe to it all.  The man with Anacin almost seems like he could be an inhabitant of the Black Lodge.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here is Fictitious Anacin Commercial!