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From the large billboards on the highway to the commercials that interrupt our favorite shows, advertisements are all around us. These works of capitalism try to persuade the viewer to try a certain product, stay at a certain hotel, or buy any of the wide variety of goods and services available to them. These types of ads are common in every country; however, there is one product whose advertisements can only be shown legally in the United States and New Zealand: prescription medicine (Tyler). Prescription medication ads, also called direct-to-consumer ads, advertise to the public and lead to misinformation and over-prescription. Some say that these ads have to be legal because they notify patients about potential treatment options, but this simply is not true. For the previous reasons, I believe that the United States should ban direct-to-consumer drug advertisements. Just like …show more content…
with any advertisement, direct-to-consumer ads try to inform the audience of the product. However, a problem arises when this product is something as crucial as health care. Sometimes these ads can turn our current age of information into an age of misinformation. For example, fifteen percent of these ads are for drugs that are less than a year old (Freundlich). The issue with this short time frame comes from the lack of knowledge about the long-term effects of the drug. They could end up being more dangerous than previously believed; is a temporary fix for something worth such detrimental consequences? Another way prescription drug ads can confuse viewers is by providing a lack of information. The guidelines for direct-to-consumer ads are very loose. Cost, success rate, generic versions, and speediness of the drug are just some of the items that these commercials can avoid informing the viewer of (“Prescription Drug Advertising: Questions and Answers”). An advertisement for Latuda, a bipolar disease treatment, heavily does this; in it, a narrator says that Latuda has been proven to be effective against bipolar depression (“Latuda TV Commercial”). When looked into further, it is easy to understand why this should not be considered a breakthrough. This is because there are already better drugs on the market and the other options are safer, cheaper, and just as effective (Friedman). Direct-to-consumer ads and misinformation is a problem, but it is not the only one that stems from them. Besides leading consumers astray, prescription drug ads also perform another serious problem. This problem is contributing to the over-prescription of medication. A large reason for this is that some ads make it seem that a pill is the only fix for the issue at hand. While this may be true for some diseases, there may be other options that are just as effective. This exact thing happens in a commercial for Myrbetriq, a treatment for overactive bladder (“Bowling Myrbetriq Commercial 2015 Trailer HD”). Throughout the commercial the viewer feels that this medication is the only way to be “normal” again. What the advertisement does not tell the viewer is that, in most cases, overactive bladder can be treated by a reduced fluid intake, kegels, and other lifestyle changes ("Overactive Bladder Treatments and Drugs"). Someone should not have to suffer horrible side effects for a drug that may not be that much of a miracle compared to other, safer remedies. Should trust in our health be put into ads that are trying to sell us something or into a doctor whose profession is keeping us healthy? Despite the large downfalls of using direct-to-consumer ads, people still argue that they are a necessity.
The idea behind this argument is that they increase awareness of potential diseases and encourage people to visit their doctor. There are multiple things wrong with this argument. First of all, the statistics do not agree with this statement. According to an article published in the US National Library of Medicine, only four percent of patients went to their doctor due to an advertisement that they saw (Gellad). Even with this small percentage, it can still cause problems within the visit itself. This is because conversations about ads “can affect patient goals, divert time away from disease screening or examinations, or pre-empt dialogue about healthy lifestyle changes or mental health issues” (Ventola). In layman’s terms, this means that when patients go to their doctors with assumptions about their health, it can actually negatively affect them. The argument in favor of having direct-to-consumer ads are almost non-existent, and the negatives of having them outweigh the
benefits. They are around us when we read a magazine, when we are browsing the internet for research, and even when we are watching a movie. While they may sound like stalkers, the truth is a little less terrifying. Advertisements have become a part of our daily life, and a large amount of the goods and services that are broadcasted are fine. However, there is one product that should not be allowed to advertise to the public. Prescription medication ads cause consumers to become misinformed and contribute to the rising over-prescription crises. Additionally, these ads prevent a healthy relationship with a licensed physician and should not be relied on for medical advice. Being the progressive nation that we are, the USA should ban all direct-to-consumer ads. Sacrificing the good of the public for some advertising is something we cannot do.
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, the marketing behind pills, and the use of media outlets.
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.
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.
The United States of America accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, yet as a nation, we devour over 50% of the world’s pharmaceutical medication and around 80% of the world’s prescription narcotics (American Addict). The increasing demand for prescription medication in America has evoked a national health crisis in which the government and big business benefit at the expense of the American public.
Instead, there is a simpler way for patients to become sick without having to wait for excessive amounts of time at the doctor’s office. If you want to become sick, just turn on the television. Drug and treatment ads litter people’s entertainment screen and informs patients about drugs and treatments that remove symptoms for relatively serious conditions. These serious conditions include bipolar disorder, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, and heart disease. The advertisements, though, scare the public by showing a sad woman to represent bipolar disorder, leg pain for multiple sclerosis, stiffness for osteoporosis, and chest pain for heart disease. As a result, a woman who is fatigued from working late for the past week automatically assumes she suffers with bipolar disorder, a man who ran a marathon a few days ago assumes he suffers with multiple sclerosis, an elderly woman with a stiff neck (who’d slept the wrong way last night) believes she has osteoporosis, and a teen with chest pain (aka a heartburn after eating oily foods earlier that day) is afraid he has heart disease simply because that was what the television ad portrayed. As said by Cathy Davidson, contributor to the development of Duke University’s Program in Information Science and Information Studies at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, in her book Now You See It, “The music swells, we’re
Almost everybody on Long Island, and probably all around the world, has been prescribed a drug by a doctor before— whether it was to knock out a nasty virus, or relieve pain post injury or surgery. However, what many people don’t realize is that these drugs can have highly addictive qualities, and more and more people are becoming hooked, specifically teenagers. But when does harmlessly taking a prescription drug to alleviate pain take the turn into the downward spiral of abuse? The answer to that question would be when the user begins taking the drug for the “high” or good feelings brought along with it—certainly not what it was prescribed for (1). The amount of teens that abuse prescription medications has been rapidly increasing in recent
The United States has come to a point where a person cannot go for very long without being greeted with some sort of advertisement. Advertisements are everywhere, no matter how secluded of a life someone may live. They appear on most web pages of the Internet, show up on cellphones during applications, and are plastered along roadways. It has become second nature for most people to tune out the advertisements that are thrown in their faces at practically every turn. Our country is especially ridden with advertisements compared to others, as it has become a multi-billion industry for the country. Fueled by a materialistic frame of mind, the population’s desire for the latest product keeps the advertising field thriving.
The nature of advertising is to sell and persuade, although advertisements are not created to cause any damage, some advertisements can be very harmful to viewers. While most advertisements that possess bad habits like smoking and drinking have been banned, there is still gambling related advertisements being shown. Some of these advertisements include: television advertisements in particular during sport shows and special events like Melbourne Cup Day, computer pop-ups, messages sent to your personal email and phone. This essay will argue that all forms of advertising of gambling should be completely banned because it can be a trigger for people who already gamble and are addicted. This can result in complications in people’s lifestyle, relationships and financial situation. In addition advertisements can be misleading for young adolescents, which in turn can start lifelong addictions.
For nearly one hundred and fifty years marijuana has been illegal in the United States of America. Though marijuana naturally grew in all of our fifty states, it was outlawed due the superior strength and durability of hemp rope. This threatened to replace cotton rope, which would cost wealthy cotton owners a lot of money. To this day marijuana is still outlawed in the U.S., however rope has nothing to do with it. Once slavery and the “cotton boom” were over hemp made a little bit of a comeback in a smoking form. Then, in the early 1940’s the government began releasing anti-marijuana propaganda. In the 1960’s when marijuana became popular amongst pop-culture, a movie by the name of “Reefer Madness” was released depicting marijuana users as fiends and criminals who’s normal everyday lives fell apart, and spun out of control due to the addiction to the drug. Even in the present day organizations, as well as the government, continue to try and sway people from using the substance by portraying users as irresponsible idiots. Some examples of behaviors portrayed in the commercials are: accidental shootings, running over a little girl on a bike, molesting a passed out girl, supporting terror, and impregnating/becoming impregnated. I feel that these advertisements are ridiculously tasteless and misleading. Through personal experience, surveys, an interview, and a case study I intend to prove that marijuana users do not behave in the fashion that the anti-marijuana campaign ads would suggest, and furthermore, I expect to find that the ads so grossly misrepresent the common user, even those who do not use disagree with the negative portrayals. I also challenge you to think about the suggested situations and behaviors from the commercials, I feel that you’ll see every situation and behavior in the advertisements is much more feasible to a person under the influence of alcohol than under the influence of marijuana.
The government has tried and tried to take away our basic rights, hide stuff from us, and are now trying to ban junk food and fast food commercials? I think junk food commercials should not be banned because the government should not have the power the sensor what we watch. It is discrimination towards the companies that pay to put their product on television but no longer can because they are blamed for the nation’s problems. Finally it would take away jobs.
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the dangers of prescription drugs when not taken as prescribed by your physician or pharmacist.
It is important to be informed of what we are defending, and in this case it is to not legalize drugs. One may ask, what are drugs? Drugs are chemicals, that may affect your body in many different ways, whether it be good or bad. However, most of the time, it 's not always a positive outcome. Some drugs even leave lifetime damage to your brain and body. Although, there are many different ways to take drugs, some of the most common ways are; inhalation, ingestion, and injection. All three ways, however affect the body differently. You don 't always know what you are ingesting or injecting and even inhaling. Most of the time, because drugs are illegal, they are sold through drug dealers
In today’s difficult economy who can afford to spend their hard-earned money carelessly? Americans want good quality and low prices, and businesses that advertise their product make saving money possible. Advertising was created for one reason, so businesses could make known their product (Black, Hashimzade, and Myles). Some consumers may argue that advertising is not informative, but that it is manipulative because some advertisements make false claims. Fortunately, there are regulations and consumer rights that promote truth in advertising. Consumers must embrace their rights to keep advertising the way it is meant to be. Advertising is meant to be informative and not manipulative, and consumers play a great role in promoting truth in advertising.
Given Facebook’s inconsistency in monitoring and removing content, there is the potential for misleading or false information on marijuana to be made available, which could have dangerous implications, especially for users that are under 21 years old.