No, drug advertising in Canada can tell you more than the name of the product. If the drug is over the counter they can advertise what it is for, how it works, what it does etc.  If a perscription is needed the ad will normally advise you to talk to your doctor to see if it is right for you, and to go to their website for more information.

Maybe this rule doesn't apply to advertising for joint pain, don't know.   Cingal needs a perscription.  

Canada handles drug advertising the same as most countries.  The US has different rules. 

The thinking is that only doctors should recommend drugs that need a perscription, not TV and radio ads.

The law is not ridiculous.  The point of the ad is to make you aware of the name. When you see your doctor ask them, or a pharmacist. Get the information from a professional and not a TV or radio ad.

Roy Green a few years ago was a pitch man for some remedy that relieved aches and pains.  This lasted for about six months and then no more.  Don't recall the name or if it was over the counter or prescription.  Maybe Cingal or whatever Roy was pushing isn't classified as a drug.

Many countries don't allow any prescription drug ads, not even the ask your doctor variety that we have. Australia, and UK don't allow any form of prescription drug ads, but New Zealand has something closer to the US model.  

Interesting in the US many ads also don't say what the drug does for you.  However if it does, then you must list all of the possible side effects.  Ads can no longer speed up the list of side effects when read,  in some cases the side effects now take up to half the time of the ad.   

paterson1 wrote:

The law is not ridiculous. 

The law is ridiculous. We should be doing things the American way.
 

Radiowiz wrote:

I found the coffee shop ad (for that R pill, whatever it is called) to be the most annoying. Just as they say what the pill is for, the coffee grinder makes too much noise.  Very disturbing. 
We shouldn't have to google what it's for. The ad should be allowed to tell us in the first place.

 

I also agree with you about the annoying commercial for Rybelsus.... And as bad and as annoying as the English version of this commercial is, it is equally as annoying en francais. The same set-up... cafe, clientes, un moulin a cafe....    They even cast the same male customer (blue suit and beard) in the French version... he is bilingual.

Still, C'est terrible...

(Rybelsus is an oral semaglutide tablet used for improving blood sugar levels in adults Type II Diabetes)


 

paterson1 wrote:

The line to talk to your doctor is working.  Over half of US doctors have felt pressure from the patient to prescribe a drug that they saw on television.  Doctors even felt pressure from the patient when they told them that the drug wasn't necessary. 

 

So, from your perspective, it's better to have doctors that feel pressure because of what people found online after seeing a talk to your doctor ad rather than just simply seeing a TV ad and acting on it?

Nobody should ever have to google the information. The TV ad should just do all the work of informing, side effects and all. I believe very strongly FCC has it right and CRTC has it wrong. (in 2024)

Radiowiz wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

The line to talk to your doctor is working.  Over half of US doctors have felt pressure from the patient to prescribe a drug that they saw on television.  Doctors even felt pressure from the patient when they told them that the drug wasn't necessary. 

 

So, from your perspective, it's better to have doctors that feel pressure because of what people found online after seeing a talk to your doctor ad rather than just simply seeing a TV ad and acting on it?

Nobody should ever have to google the information. The TV ad should just do all the work of informing, side effects and all. I believe very strongly FCC has it right and CRTC has it wrong. (in 2024)

I don't know if this is even a CRTC rule.  Probably Health Canada or another government department.  Same in the US.  When people go to the doctor with an ailment they usually don't have a drug in mind that they should take in the first place.  The doctor recommends what to use.  But it does sound like people are more likely to ask about certain drugs because of the ads. 

Regardless of the advertising, most people are going to google for more information on what their problem is.  Both allowing this advertising and not have their good and bad points.  But it is significant that only the US and NZ actually allow advertising for prescription drugs.    

The Canadian rules (or lack of) do leave some room for creativity, although completely absent from the Contrave commercial described above.  The US just spits out :60 with someone walking around while a VO spits out all the side effects.  Spend any time watching US broadcast TV and you are slammed with these.

My favourite Canadian commercial was a short tag with an older couple sitting at a table, each reading and doing their own thing.  The man looks up at the woman and says...."Martha".  Cut to a big Viagra logo, 70's porn music, and a vo that says "talk to your doctor".  There were plenty of other versions with different couples, including the woman initiating...."David".  I thought they were great!

If those ads aired in the US....it would be littered with side effects and lose that comedic quick hit.