What You See is What You Get?

Have you ever watched one of those ads on tv about a new medical product that you should “ask your doctor about” and then when the commercial is over you think, “What should I ask my doctor about?”

It always follows a simple script of someone doing regular every day activity like gardening or just looking into the far distant by the window holding a coffee mug. There is a voice over of the person thinking about something really general like, “I wish I knew…” or “Now I don’t have to…” The scene then is filled with a translucent coloured background to showcase whatever the action was, but now briefly discusses the side effects of the product. The last line is always, “Ask your doctor if insert product is right for you.”

I did some brief research about this type of marketing. Is it genius? Is it annoying? I haven’t quite decided. They intrigue me, but almost all of the time I am so frustrated that I don’t know what these products are or even what their function is for. Should I know? And how do people who should know and would benefit from the product know they it is right for them when they may or may not know what the purpose of the product is? Do you see my curiosity there?

DRTV, also known is direct-response marketing on television, are most commonly displayed as infomercials such as hour long presentations about a product (Magic Bullet, beauty products on Shopping Channel) or 30-60 second commercials that focus on viewers to immediately respond by calling a number on the screen, going to a website, or like in the medical commercials, asking your doctor about the new product. So my next question is if the commercials state very vague facts about their target market like, “if you are a woman anywhere from 25-40”, will those women in that age group actually ask their doctors about the product that they have very limited knowledge about. If it isn’t quite clear, these products are shown so ambiguously on the commercials because they are new and want to draw attention. There are always side effects, and there is no gurantee that there will be results. Is that ethical? Do you believe that this is product driven, sales driven, or value driven?

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