In 2015, reality television star Kim Kardashian came under media scrutiny for promoting a medication that she claimed, “made her morning sickness disappear” (qtd by Rice, 2015, pg 34). In endorsing the medication, she neglected to follow the Food and Drug Administration guidelines which require all advertisements to mention side effects and safety concerns that come with taking the medication. Celebrity endorsement is a common form of Direct to Consumer Advertising, others include medicinal advertisements on television and the internet. These advertisements often fall under scrutiny for their inability to legitimize the medication, as well as their negative impact on the medical community. Direct to consumer advertising is not only a danger …show more content…
Mackey (2013) found that in 2013, over 2.3 billion people had access to the internet, approximately 39% of the world’s population. As this access has only continued to improve, using the internet to obtain medication has only become more common. In 2013, 72% of Americans used the internet to find medical information, either for diagnostic reasons or in search of prescriptions. This statistic is not limited to the United States alone, 12 other countries have shown similar levels of internet use for medical purposes (Mackey, 2013). The danger of self-diagnosis, along with self-treatment, is the individual’s lack of knowledge of both recognized medical disorders and treatment options. As these individuals begin to use the internet to fulfill their presumed needs, the risk of misdiagnosis and addiction increase (Mackey, 2013). Not only to do the risks increase but due to a lack of online governance, the legitimacy of medication is often questionable. Some individuals or companies, will sell expired or illegal medications online in an attempt to make quick, easy money (Mackey, 2013). Lewin (2013) found that direct to consumer advertising also has a direct link to patient satisfaction. His study conducted in 2013 found that when patients enter a physician's office after seeing a direct to consumer advertisement their satisfaction rates directly correspond to receiving the drug advertised to them. Rather …show more content…
These large corporations often attempt to either find a way around Food and Drug Administration guidelines or ignore them completely. La Barbera (2012) cites the example of the vasodilator Levitra. The commercial began with an older couple “who appear romantically involved” and are “engaging in flirtatious behavior” (La Barbera, 2012, pg 103). While the advertisement never explicitly stated the nature of the drug, imagery and music made the purpose clear. Like the neglect of Kim Kardashian in 2015, the creators of the Levitra commercial failed to mention the side effects of erectile dysfunction mediation including hypertension and heart attacks, thus, breaking clear Food and Drug Administration guidelines which lead to television stations removing it from the air (La Barbera,
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing of pharmaceuticals has grown increasingly in the past decade. The American public views prescription drug advertising for a wide range of medical conditions, including high cholesterol, depression, allergies, and erectile dysfunction. The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the content of these advertisements. Critics also have taken the position that the advertisements garner unearned trust from the public, are misleading, and promote unnecessary use of prescription drugs for common problems associated with aging. Proponents counter that DTC ads help eliminate stigmas associated with certain medical conditions, give patients an active role in their health care management, and encourages the doctor/patient relationship. There have been calls for bans on DTC pharmaceutical advertising, but the practice is protected under a business’s right to free speech. Regulation changes, particularly requiring the FDA to pre-approve marketing campaigns before they are released to the public, may be one way to appease opponents, while protecting the rights of pharmaceutical manufacturers to advertise to the average American consumer.
From the moment of its existence, car insurance has continued to be a value and necessity in the lives of every driver. With the increasing number of people that are driving, it is something that simply cannot be ignored. And what better way to share various insurance companies than through advertisements and television? Amongst the numerous selections of car insurance, Allstate has proven to withhold a successful and symbolic campaign of television advertisements. Through the use of logical appeals, dry humor, and strategic plot lines, Allstate does an efficient job at drawing its viewers in.
In America today, many people are in need of medical help. In fact,the Federal Trade Commission estimates that 75% of the population complain of physical problems (Federal Trade Commission 9). They complain, for example, of fatigue, colds, headaches, and countless other "ailments." When these symptoms strike, 65% purchase over-the counter, or OTC, drugs. In order to take advantage of this demand, five billion dollars is spent by the pharmaceutical industry on marketing each year . This marketing, usually in the form of advert...
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising refers to one of the marketing strategies in a pharmaceutical industry. As pharmaceutical products directly affect people's lives and health, many industrialized countries ban DTC advertisements; the United States and New Zealand are the only industrialized countries that allow DTC advertising of prescription medicines. However, there is a controversy over whether DTC advertising, as one of the most effective forms of mass communication, should be more regulated than it is now. This debate is ongoing. This research argument, however, contends that people need stronger regulations against many DTC advertisements in the pharmaceutical industry because they are usually manipulative and misleading to people.
Direct-to-consumer prescription drug ads are dangerous and can have serious effects on the health of the general public. In the article “Pros & Cons Arguments: ‘Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers?’”, the pros and cons of the advertising of prescription drugs are compared. The negative aspects of these ads outweigh the positives. DTC prescription drug ads misinform patients, promote over-use, and pressure medical providers. The counter side argues that these ads inform patients, create a positive impact on patient compliance with medication, and cause patients to confront their doctors.
In 1985, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) passed a ruling to allow direct marketing to consumers as long as the pharmaceutical companies included warnings about possible side effects and other dangers. This change allowed for print-based marketing such as magazines, but in 1997, the FDA lessened the requirement for detailed warnings. Furthermore, the FDA ruled that TV ads containing only the main dangers of the drug were permissible, and this resulted in an inundation of the direct-to-consumer advertising on television. “One study showed that for each dollar of direct-to-consumer advertising on TV by the pharmaceutical company during 1999-2000 resulted in a return of $4.20 for each dollar spent. By 2005, the pharmaceutical industry spent over one billion on TV ads” (DeGeorge 319). Based on these facts, the advertising is paying off for these large pharmaceutical companies.
In Melody Peterson’s “Our Daily Meds” , the history of marketing and advertising in the pharmaceutical industry is explored. The first chapter of the book, entitled “Creating disease”, focuses on how major pharmaceutical companies successfully create new ailments that members of the public believe exist. According to Peterson, the success that these drug manufacturers have experienced can be attributed to the malleability of disease, the use of influencial people to promote new drugs and the efficient usage of media outlets.
I have chosen to review an article from the Journal of Health Communication. The Journal of Health Communication reports studies both of qualitative and quantitative values for the scholarly and professional individual. It is designed to give concise and ethical reviews of academic research (Scott C. Ratzan). Furthermore, the Journal of Health Communication focuses on promoting the vital life of the individual and the good health of the world’s people with presentation of research for the purpose of better health (Scott C. Ratzan). I choose to review an article which focused on the increased volume of prescription drug advertising directed to consumer, as it has grown tremendously over the past few decades. It has been reported, drug advertisements have experienced a significant increase in the amount of money spent on advertising from $47 million dollars in 1990 to nearly $2.5 billion in 2000 (Frank, Berndt, Donohue, Epstein, & Rosenthal, 2002; M...
This paper will analyze an ATT commercial according to audience, purpose, context, ethics, and stance. The focus will emphasize the audience which the aid is trying to reach and how they do so.
We live in a world where being medicated has become a societal norm. Modern health care practices have set the stage for the proliferation of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs by pharmaceutical manufacturers. Some of these practices include the emergence of managed care organizations (MCOs), the legalization of DTCA of prescription drugs, the emergence of the Internet as an alternative promotional channel, the increased desire by patients to become more involved in their own health care decisions, the disillusionment with traditional medicine, and the rise of ‘alternative’ medicine, to name a few. There is an ongoing debate as to the ultimate harm or benefit of this relatively recent practice of pharmaceutical manufacturers to direct their promotional efforts away from the physician and towards the consumer.
Alcohol is a product that tends to be advertised by sex appeal and social class, although these specific ads factor these components in, they mainly focus on one gender and its superiority over the other. In this day and age, advertisement takes more than a simple "leave it Beaver" appeal; it takes something that will catch your eyes while flipping through the pages of a magazine or through channels on TV. The whole point of ads is to get you to identify with the characters or their actions, either by having the same characteristics or wanting to. Advertisement has actually gone a step further, now it is okay to be chauvinist and arrogant, even worse, it is accepted and found humorous among society. However, it gets the job done, and that's all that matters. Sadly, I too found it appealing, and it stuck to my brain like tree molasses. How did a simple ad affect me so? By using the sick, yet truthful mental thinking of men and women. One ad I chose came from a women's magazine, and it was strictly directed towards women, the other ad was from a men's magazine and, again, was strictly directed towards men. I chose these two similar alcohol ads to compare and contrast simply because they use the same methods, but at the same time, they are on a totally different level. The layout is different, the targeted audience is opposite from the other, yet the appeal is similar.
Analysis of an Advertising Campaign We are swarmed by advertising. Companies constantly battle to compete for the sale of their product. Adverts appear in every form of media including radio; television; Internet; billboards; newspaper; flyers and magazines. The advertiser wants us to buy their product above their competitors. The basic aim of advertising is to convince the target audience that their product is the best in the field and superior to the other products of similarity.
An analysis of the signs and symbols used in Patek Philippe Geneve's "Begin your own tradition" advert.
Television commercials are television programming produced by any organisation to provide message in the market about their product or services. It is one of the most popular methods to attract customer and provide them information about their products or services.
And the quantity of consumers probing for health information on the Internet is extraordinary, still the proportion of users who can actually appraise the precision and dependability of the assimilated information is very small, which represents a potential threat to general health.... ... middle of paper ... ... Duke Forum For Law & Social Change (DFLSC), 5129-147. 12.