New Zealand and the U.S. are the only two countries that permit direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising. According to Kantar Media, in 2014, the industry in the U.S. spent $4.9 billion in advertising and in 2013, $4.2 billion.
After the Super Bowl ad this year from Xifaxan for irritable bowel syndrome showing an animated pink intestine character, the FDA announced it would begin a study relating to animated figures in drug advertisements, their impact on consumer’s outlook, and if such characters reduce consumer’s understanding of possible side effects and benefits. Experts in the Pharma industry didn’t like that. Bob Brown, Director of account services for Bryant Brown Healthcare, a healthcare marketing agency, said "Marketers should be able to consider whether something is the most effective communications method. I'd hate to see aesthetic choices hampered by legislation."
Big Pharma may want to reconsider their marketing and PR strategies. Spend more time showing what charitable efforts they support, let people who receive free drug treatment, as sponsored by many of the pharmaceutical companies, share the difference it made to them as they received costly drugs at little or no cost, when they might have used all their insurance benefits, or found themselves on the verge of bankruptcy because of a major health crisis in their family.
Pharma might study ways to make stories more touching than just someone saying they can now stay more alert because they used one drug over another. Look at the real-life stories instead of animated characters grasping first their belly area and then behind them. Those ads are clever but do they inspire confidence that the drugs won’t do lasting damage as well as solve temporary problems, or that all Big Pharma really wants is Big Bucks. Unless the industry stops acting like snake skin oil salesmen and starts showing deep human concerns and caring, they might soon find themselves in the same situation as Big Tobacco companies, banned from advertising.PR Insights & Public Relations Strategy
By EPR Editorial Team3 min read
Can Big Pharma’s Reputation be Turned Back Toward the Light?
By EPR Editorial Team3 min read
New Zealand and the U.S. are the only two countries that permit direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising. According to Kantar Media, in 2014, the industry in the U.S. spent $4.9 billion in advertising and in 2013, $4.2 billion.
After the Super Bowl ad this year from Xifaxan for irritable bowel syndrome showing an animated pink intestine character, the FDA announced it would begin a study relating to animated figures in drug advertisements, their impact on consumer’s outlook, and if such characters reduce consumer’s understanding of possible side effects and benefits. Experts in the Pharma industry didn’t like that. Bob Brown, Director of account services for Bryant Brown Healthcare, a healthcare marketing agency, said "Marketers should be able to consider whether something is the most effective communications method. I'd hate to see aesthetic choices hampered by legislation."
Big Pharma may want to reconsider their marketing and PR strategies. Spend more time showing what charitable efforts they support, let people who receive free drug treatment, as sponsored by many of the pharmaceutical companies, share the difference it made to them as they received costly drugs at little or no cost, when they might have used all their insurance benefits, or found themselves on the verge of bankruptcy because of a major health crisis in their family.
Pharma might study ways to make stories more touching than just someone saying they can now stay more alert because they used one drug over another. Look at the real-life stories instead of animated characters grasping first their belly area and then behind them. Those ads are clever but do they inspire confidence that the drugs won’t do lasting damage as well as solve temporary problems, or that all Big Pharma really wants is Big Bucks. Unless the industry stops acting like snake skin oil salesmen and starts showing deep human concerns and caring, they might soon find themselves in the same situation as Big Tobacco companies, banned from advertising.Written by
EPR Editorial Team
EPR Editorial Team - Author at Everything Public Relations
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