On the lighter side of Cialis

In my search of all things pharma marketing I found this spoof on a Cialis (Erectile Disfunction Drug) TV ad featuring Cuba Gooding Jr. It has to be him! I'm not sure but judge for yourself.



The questions is whether this type of material is damaging to the brand or if it actually perpetuates it's staying power in our minds? Pun is fully intended. Let's just say, I probably won't forget this or which drug makes it possible.

Restless Leg Syndrome...really?

The first time I saw an ad on RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) I thought, "you've got to be kidding me!" With all due respect to the 3% of American folks who suffer through this, I thought "this is not a disease." Well the makers of Requip (Glaxo) and Mirapex (Boehringer Ingelheim) have remarketed a drug that was originally developed for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and now is being marketed to treat RLS. Some would say that the medicines (side effects) are worse than the cure. Consumer Reports has started a monthly campaign to debunk pharma ads and the latest recipients of this treatment are the RLS drugs. If you haven't seen the spot here it is
What kind of effect will this type of backlash on pharma ads have on drug sales? What type of response does this warrant from drug marketers? Who will be next?

Pharma-Controls: Good, Bad….or Ugly?

Producer/director, Michael Moore has been (fairly or unfairly) faulted that his documentaries play judge, jury and executioner for his own (self-confessed) liberal agenda. But you know something—they sure do work. The arguments that Moore builds in film are so darn convincing that he’ll have the most ultra right winger at least second-thinking any conservative positions. His most recent film, “Sicko”, questions the US healthcare and pharmaceutical systems by comparing them to those in Canada, Cuba, the UK and other more laisez faire systems. Here’s my question: if the price of certain pharmaceuticals in the US were controlled the way they are in certain (ala Moore) other economies—what would happen to Pharma R&D? Who would reward the breakthroughs? And (gasp!) what would happen to the newest of all product marketing categories in the US: pharmaceutical marketing! What would happen to the media business? Would Michael Moore focus his next documentary on the plight of the unemployed ad man? What’s your opinion?