An analysis of drug advertising on US television for four consecutive weeks in 2004 showed that one of the most powerful messages used by advertisers to sell their products was the idea that taking a prescription drug gives you back control over your life.
US television viewers see as many as 16 hours of advertising for prescription drugs a year, much more time than spent seeing public health messages or with their primary care doctors, said lead author Dominick Frosch, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles (Annals of Family Medicine 2007;5:6-13).
The investigators reviewed television advertisements for prescription drugs broadcast in the evening news hour and in the prime time viewing hours of 8 to 11 pm on the four main US channels (American Broadcasting Company, CBS, NBC, and Fox) for four consecutive weeks from 30 June to 27 July 2004.
“The advertisements tend to have narrative plot lines to make prescription drugs attractive to consumers,” Dr Frosch told the BMJ. About half of the advertisements have “before and after” scenarios.
The character is shown as having a health problem that is out of control, causing professional and social problems. Through use of the drug, he or she regains complete control. “It's a black and white scenario,” Dr Frosch told the BMJ, “but we know from clinical trials that it's rarely that black and white.”
Almost all of the advertisements “used positive emotional appeals,” often by depicting a character happy after taking a product. In all, 69% of the advertisements used negative emotional appeals, such as showing a character in a fearful state before using the product. Almost a third of the advertisements used humour to appeal to viewers, the article says. Some of the advertisements used jingles to spread the message.
US television advertisements for prescription drugs promoted seven of the 10 best selling drugs in 2004. The advertisements promoted Lipitor (atorvastatin), Zocor (simvastatin), Prevacid (lansoprazole), Nexium (esomeprazole), Procrit (epoetin alfa), Zoloft (sertraline), and Plavix (clopidogrel).
Only about a quarter of the advertisements mentioned the prevalence of the health problem; risk factors that might cause the problem; or lifestyle changes that could reduce a person's risk. Often the advertisements indicated that the drug would help when changes to lifestyle did not work
The television messages may encourage viewers to go to their doctors and ask for the advertised drug. “This is instructive in the case of Vioxx [rofecoxib], which was the most advertised drug in 2000,” and which has since been withdrawn because of concerns over cardiovascular events, Dr Frosch said.