For many years Madison Avenue pigged out at the trough of tobacco advertising. Back in the Mad Men days, cigarettes, booze and car accounts paid for many a Westchester mansion, country club fees and the odd boat or two. But with the ever tightening restrictions on tobacco and booze advertising things started to get a littel tougher. Then along came drugs… No, not the stuff you shove up your nose, the kinds your doctor prescribes for you.
And the good times were back… With a vengeance. Billions of dollars are now spent on DTC (Direct to Consumer) campaigns in an effort to make American Consumers bug the *** out of their doctors to get them to prescribe outrageously expensive medicines, often for ailments that don’t actually exist, such as “Restless Leg Syndrome” or “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”
No other country in the world allows this kind of advertising, and Madison Avenue laps it up. But perhaps not for much longer. Legislation has been introduced in the US Senate to eliminate the federal tax deduction on advertising for prescription-drugs. This could affect marketing budgets to the tune of millions, and as I say in the chapter devoted to health care advertising in my latest opus… The Ubiquitous Persuaders, US drug companies spend three times as much on marketing as they do on research and development.
I am sure, however, that the legislation will probably go nowhere. When the armies of drug company lobbyists flex their muscles and the senators are reminded that their re-election war chests might not be so full if they even think about voting for this bill, I’m sure in time honored tradition, it will languish in committee and eventually be forgotten.
There’s much more on this in The Ubiquitous Persuaders. Buy it for crying out loud.
I agree with Mr Parker's general assessment of US pharmaceutical advertising. However, in entering into the medical area one has to be careful. As someone suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I would love to agree that this condition does not exist, but sadly it does and in the UK the medical profession has come to recognise this condition. This is what my doctor tells me and what I have read for myself.
Also, as far as I know in the UK at least, Big Pharma is not offering any drugs to combat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
by all means take aim at Big Pharma, but make sure that you hit the target!
Its depressing to read that pharmaceutical firms spend three times as much on marketing as they do on research and development. That's a stat that needs to be reversed.
Sad but how do you think your wages are paid george, Gordon and anyone else who works in advertising while questioning ethics. The industry needs this legislation like a whole in the back of the head. I know which side my bread is buttered on. Trendy ad accounts don't pay the bills.
Hi George,
I'm being a Cuckoo and dropping Sam's eggs in your nest from next-door.
There's a nice bit in this about ADHD and how the pandemic is sweeping America with hysteria. Tell us what you think of it.
When are you coming over?
www.thersa.org/.../sir-ken-robinson
One of the comments on my last post implied that people who work in advertising shouldn’t be too fussy
George Parker
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