Type 2 diabetic here... once had a diabetes educator at the local hospital mention that drug not long ago, then their ads started to ramp up on American TV. Never did take that route... been able to keep my glucose levels etc. where they should be, with pills (metformin), eating carefully, and getting as much physical activity as I can, despite a recently-diagnosed neurological condition for which I now use an ultra-lightweight manual wheelchair part-time.

In the last few years, the major pharmaceutical companies have absolutely dominated the American airwaves, and some of them have gone so far as to rewrite popular/classic songs to push these crazy expensive meds... songs like Pilot's "Magic" and The Jackson 5's "ABC", to name a couple. My wife TiVo's a lot of shows from CBS, and drug commercials are all over that network, often first in each network break, and also in local breaks, with Detroit's WWJ 62 being a CBS O&O. Says a lot about the Eye Network's target demographic.  Don't see as many drug commercials on the other three major nets... the ads are there, but not to the same saturation level as on CBS.

Leslieville Bill wrote:

I believe in Canada you can't say what it's for if you advertise prescription drugs.  Of course, you can in the States, however, it must be accompanied by the 30 seconds of disclaimers we're all used to.

Yes, I remember reading about that many years ago. Recently there's been another commercial running for Ozempic, where people keep saying the name of the drug but not what it does. Viagra's commercials here are another example, although in their case the drug is well enough known that this issue isn't a problem for them to deal with. Another method that drug companies can use is to do a commercial about a condition that their drug treats, ending with something like "Ask your doctor" about what's available for this condition. That approach is more likely to be taken if the only drug that's readily available to treat the condition is the one that the company makes.

Last edited by Lorne (December 27, 2021 3:06 pm)

I learn something new here every day. I had no idea those were the rules in Canada about prescription medications. Only the authorities could come up with the idea of being able to advertise a product without being able to tell you what it does or what it's for. 

This reminds me of the edicts that surrounded the early days of The Shopping Channel in this country, where they forced them to do everything in stop motion because God forbid you should see it in real time. That made as much sense as these current rules.

And Forward Power I hope you can manage with your situation. It does not sound easy, but it does seem you're making it through. Best of luck to you with it. 

I agree with Lorne that the current regulations, which don't allow drug companies to make claims or imply outcomes for prescription drugs, is a better way to handle this type of advertising. The current law in Canada allows for brand awareness which is fair but encourages people to get more information or to talk to their doctor, which would be the correct thing to do. 

The ads on US TV and radio for prescription drugs, which make claims along with the possible side effects, likely do more to confuse the consumer than good.  Broadcasters have benefited greatly from this since the billions spent for this type of medical advertising has replaced other categories that have cut back on traditional media.  Always amazes me how much advertising on traditional network TV especially  news and lifestyle programming, is now for prescription drugs.  Glad that we have avoided this largely because of our different regulations.

The drug in question at the start of this thread has already been taken to court and sued in the US for the side effects which some consumers experienced.  

Speaking of SNL...