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Friday, February 21, 2014

Direct-To-Consumer Ads II

I hate them. Truly I do. Honest I do. As the Viagra ad says: "This is the age of knowing". Apparently you can learn a lot from a drug ad. Is it wrong that they tint the whole commercial blue when one of the side effects of Viagra is "...objects having a blue color tinge to them"? I think that's just cruel.

The most recent ad to grind my gears is the one for Eliquis. The one where the older gentleman is playing basketball and says: "I was taking warfarin but I wanted to up my game". WTF does that even mean? It's like a huge Madison Avenue non sequitur. It does not follow. How do you get from taking a blood thinner to the act of upping one's game by switching to another blood thinner? Perhaps the ad agency couldn't convince any of the ED drug manufacturers to use this commercial because it was too literal. It's simple advertising. It's a sales pitch. Few outside of the healthcare industry probably even noticed this.

Because telling your doctor what's right for you makes the most sense. You're supposed to tell him what's wrong with you. Not what you want. That's what the street dealer is for. Or the legal marijuana states. Do they have DTC ads for different products there? Those I'd like to see. Those make sense. Ask your budsman if Pineapple Express or Romulan Cotton Candy is right for you.

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