I am so glad that somebody is finally going to start looking into drug commercials. These advertisements play with my mind.
Are you tired? Yes. Do you find it hard to concentrate a full nine hours at work? Sometimes. Do you drink more than one cup of coffee a month? Yes. Do you want to be happy and carefree like this person in our commercial? YES.
Then I start thinking, maybe I do have restless leg syndrome. It must be a miracle drug, look how happy they are!
OK, maybe I am not that naïve, but apparently some people are. According to Associated Press, the FDA is conducting research to see if “drug ads are distracting consumers from carefully considering and encoding risk information”. They are in fear of people relating the happy and relaxed images on screen to themselves, and not paying attention to the risks and side effects of the actual drug.
Television drug commercials are “supposed to” help inform people about diseases and treatments, according to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. And pharmaceutical drug companies are “supposed to” show the good and bad of each drug.
So has advertising gone too far? Are they trying to sell their product no matter what it takes? Should there be stricter guidelines and more restrictions? — Molli Megasko