Drug commercials are honest and objective, right?
We've all seen the drug ads on TV and in magazines. Some of them are so obscure I don't even know what ailment the drug is supposed to be treating (although I come away pretty sure I must need the drug anyway). But do drug commercials deliberately mislead? Cognitive psychologists say that ads are designed to maximize your memory of the benefits and minimize your memory of the risks. Read more here.
6 comments:
Vidya 7546
Of course, here, Advertisement agencies do their best to sell their products for profit without emphasizing all the effects of the drug at hand. By repeatedly covering the benefits and barely mentioning the risks, advertising agencies tend to extol the virtue of the drug, appealing and misleading the buyer that the drug at hand has no side effects and no risks at all. The risks will be covered in very small print, at the bottom of the screen, for a milisecond, just so the companies will avoid million dollar suits alleging that such risks were not emphasized. What I got from the article is that these ads are not realistic in any sense. The woman waking up with her perfect makeup, her sleep problems being cured in but 60 seconds - all to sell a "feeling," which, the consultant says, sells the best because in reality, "who doesn't want that?" Though, compared to other ads, Lunesta does indeed clearly voice the effects and risks of the drug, however, the images during the voiceover tends to overpower the words of warning. I feel that the #1 objective of such companies is to sell, thereby not taking into any account the side effects or not wanting to advertise such things in the first place in fear of driving away customers. So, it's a "one-sided message." Therefore, it is best, even before asking a doctor, to do a little bit of your own research on drugs and then decide whether it's worth all the side effects, etc, to buy the drug. If you genuinely believe that the good results are worth suffering through the side effects after that bit of research, then all the best to you.
Here are some articles I found that were related to this issue:
http://www.nihcm.org/DTCbrief.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22
/business/media/22drug.html?ex=
1327122000&en=4b3a424bed1df4de&ei
=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/
12/business/media/12drug.html?ex=
1255320000&en=b3aa542f16424e1f&ei=
5088&partner=rssnyt
Sarah 4128
Advertisements ahve a huge impact on people, so of course companies are going to take advantage of that. People do anything to make a buck these days, whether or not it is the right thing they are promoting. Drug ads are very misleading. I find it funny at the end when they mention all of the side effects, a long list of them. Half the time it seems like you might be better off just dealing with the problem it is you had in the first place than to have all of the effects that goes with the drug. Advertisers make the drug they are selling appear like the best thing in the world and that it will take all your pain away, they add nice images and vibrant colors to attract their target audience, but does it really do what it says it does? People really need to research any type of drugs they take before they regret it.
Here's a site about misleading commercials and ads for drugs. www.chiropracticresearch.org/NEWS_fda_prescription_drug_.htm
I ll admit that i to have considered buying some sort of drug just because i was sold by the advertisement. Such as the case with Ny Quill i have been known to over dose on it in times of bad health in hopes that i too will feel like those people on the advertisement. But this is not to say that i am completely gullible to everything i am told. I can definitely see the business behind profiting of drugs. I think that people are being sold too easily to everything they hear. People should learn not to be so dependent on so many forms of medicine. A simple drug can easily become a habit and that can easily become an addiction. Somewhere a line should be drawn as to what an individual needs instead of what he wants. In truth these ads to educate the public to a certain extent but i don't believe that this form of educating is a good one
Here some info i found on drug advertisement.
http://whyfiles.org/shorties/171drug_ads/
Eduardo 9416
Julia 3716
So I usually laugh at these drug advertisements and I just don't understand how people ever fall for them and to read this article that states a mass interest is very interesting. It's everyting a drug advertisement should do. It reels the audience by relating a personal problem that messes with you're everyday life. Usually the problem is something that most people brush off thinking there's no solution and they just have to deal with it. Then these ads hit you with the solution and shots of instant relief that allows you to fully enjoy the things in life that we're originally affected by the problem. My personal opinion, I feel like I've encountered a million of those drug ads and I would confidently say that 90% of the them follow that plotline. At the end, the audience should get a little light bulb and run to the doctors but the thing is I don't understand how people can brush over the list of at least 10 side effects. The article does point out the strategy of where they put that list of side effect and I completely agree on the tactic and how it can work. But whenever I watch the ads and the side effects are listed, that's exactly when I start laughing b/c it's not like minor side effects that these drugs can cause but most of the time they're like vomiting, diaherrea etc. Who just brushes that stuff to the side? I know if I was depressed something that would make more sad would be vomiting so how do these people waive this kind of stuff? Secondly, there are always a pretense in order to take the drug b/c as much as everyone can have this problem not everyone is eligible for the solution i.e. ads are always saying "Don't take if...pregnant, heart problems, over 30, diabetes" and the list goes on. Then I question the ad of it's actual effectiveness and crediblity if there are so many negative side effects and limits to receive the drug.
So yes I guess I understand why people fall for these drugs ads, probably the same people that fall for ads easily in general. But we can't pity the people that do go after these drugs b/c in my opinion the ads are obviously questionable and unreliable.
Here's one of my favorite drug advertisements for Zoloft, an anti-depressent drug that will apparently open all the gates to happiness that you've been missing sitting in a black and white room moping by yourself (because that's what depressed people do according to this commericial). But in this article, Zoloft will cure more than just your depression in this new "Zoloft For Everything" campaign.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28349
Loren 3875
Advertising has always been a medium for convincing the population to buy all kinds of different products. Commercials run 24/7, 7 days a week. They market things that women would feel they need in their life to be attractive, or for men to buy products to reveal the product will make them more masculine. However, when introducing drugs and medications like this it becomes more of a popularity contest that is when it gets scary. Drugs are used to cure, treat, and alleviate symptoms. Yet, drug companies advertise as if taking this medicine will make your life so much better and this encourages patients to ask their doctors about it.
The advertisement that sticks in my head is the one for RLS, or restless leg sydrome, which doesn't even sound like it could be a real problem. However, after watching the commercial I began to think about how I could never be comfortable with my legs crossed or uncrossed in class and it made me think of the commercial, which is exactly what the company wanted to happen.
It proves that even though these advertisements may seem far fetched their advertising techniques remain in the audiences brain no matter how unbelievable the subject is.
Here is an article on the RLS commercial:
http://www.rls.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.
aspx?&pid=184&srcid=178
Carole 2034
I have to admit that I also get attracted to the ads that offer some benefits, until I hear the side effects. I think it is true that people believe that these pills will “cure” whatever problems they supposedly have because of the exaggerated benefits that the ads state. It is also true that when it comes to choosing what is heard from what is seen most people choose what they saw over what they heard. I think the drug commercials do deliberately mislead the consumer because not only do they highlight the good things, but they also deliberately exaggerate the way the research is taken.
Here is a link that deals with the same kind of issue:
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=20047
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