Pharmaceutical Advertising

After reading Michael Chan’s post on the upside of ordinary and obvious advertising, I was reminded of the myriad of confusing pharmaceutical ads that I’ve seen.

Thinking of TV ads for new drugs, I instantly see images of serene couples smiling happily at their children, or young women looking out to sea. I remember that on several occasions, I would wonder what the ad was exactly for, never mind its side effects or how to go about acquiring the medication (whether over the counter or through a doctor’s prescription).

I was surprised to find many studies done on this topic, many of which are noted by journalist Kate Pickert in her article for Time Magazine. It seems that perhaps, the sort of confusion I feel when seeing these ads is just that which the pharmaceuticals want viewers to feel. Tactics such as faster narration when listing the side effects or using distracting images to draw our attention are some of the many used to detract from the underlying message.

Tying it back to Michael’s post, I believe that these types of ads are just those that do require more ordinary and obvious depictions. It is unethical to try to confuse viewers on the possible negatives of a new drug or other important information, and it is not beneficial either to those who would have otherwise benefited from the new drug.