Introduction
In this segment we are going to dissect why medicines remains in the shelves away from advertising. From using dangerous concoctions to scamming. The phrase “A smart person learns from his mistakes, but a truly wise person learns from the mistakes of others” still lives on. We learnt from mistakes of the past and improved tightening our laws governing pharmaceutical products. Let us find out how our past influenced our present laws and policies.
History of drug advertisement
Before we proceed, we must look at history of drugs advertisement and how it shapes pharmaceuticals advertising. Patent medicines came into birth in the late 17th Century, as inventor of a secret remedy found favour with royalty were issued letter patents authorizing the use of the royal endorsement in advertising. The patent granted the medicine maker a monopoly over his particular formula. The term “patent medicine” came to describe all pre-packaged medicines.
Patent medicines were one of the first major product categories that the advertising industry promoted; patent medicine promoters pioneered many advertising and sales technique example salespeople claimed their drugs were “cure-all’s” or to cure multiple illnesses but in reality, most of these medications cointained normal substances such as alcohol, herbs, and plant oils.
During the first half of the 1800’s, a lithography was invented and this transformed advertising as it became cheaper to produce colored images in papers (trade cards) and this was accelerated in the mid 1800 when Americans companies transformed hand lithography printers to steam powered printers in tern producing cheap and beautiful designs.
Trade cards often featured animals (such as cats, kittens, births), healthy, happy babies and small children, with these visual themes of energy, hope, comfort, beauty, and calmness were the sentiments that the manufactures of drugs wanted viewers to feel just like modern advertising. By linking products to pleasant images and emotions these tricks is used for the public to see drugs as desirable.
Mordern advertising
Apart from catchy images, they used phrases and catchy slogans to sell. As predicted product claim dominated as one product advertised could claim it is curing more than 10 or even 20 illnesses. As innovation progressed so as the advertising.
Early 20th centuary ashared in new forms of advertising actually we can claim, modern era of advertising as old methods of trade cards and salesmen was replaced with newspapers and radio.Drug makers of the recent past used bright colors, creative language, and eye-catching designs to convince the public to buy, buy, buy! – basically graphics fundamentals to sell drugs to the public. The following are types of advertising used in morden era
1.Print advertising
Pharmaceutical companies have advertised using print media eg Magazine, newpapers and even flyiers. The ads discovered were filled with images meant to capture the reader’s eye and often appeared to have been created to specifically appeal to either male or female readers. When looking at their messages, these ads often discussed symptom control and effectiveness of the medication. These advertisements also mentioned how the medication could increase reader’s satisfaction and enjoyment of life.
One research team found that readers who encounter drug ads in their magazines tended to fall into one of four categories (Arney, 2013):
- Lay physician
- Informed shopper
- Voyeur
- Evader
These categories were developed by the research team to describe the four unique ways readers interacted with the pharmaceutical ads printed in magazines.
For instance, the “lay physician”, “informed shopper”, and “voyeur” will each read drug ads while the “evader” will not.
Those in the “lay physician” group looked at drug advertisements to learn more about medical diagnoses and how the drug of interest treated these health issues. They would also recommend potentially helpful medications to family and friends.
The “informed shopper” looked at advertisements for their own personal use. If a medication could be helpful to them, this group paid special attention to listed benefits AND side effects, to see if it might be better than what they were currently taking.
The “voyeur” looked at advertisements to learn more about diseases, but not necessarily to use or recommend the medications advertised.
And finally, readers that flipped right past drug ads were termed “evaders”, as they had no interest in these types of advertisements.
2. Television Advertising
Drug advertisments is often link the use of their medication with increased physical activity, showing people riding bikes, walking with partners, and playing sports (Applequist, 2018). These ads often depict medications as able to increase social interaction, friendships, and enhance overall satisfaction. .
3. Online advertising
Online advertising is a rapidly growing segment of the pharmaceutical advertising industry. When searching for health information, internet users often first turn to general internet search engines such as Google. Reliance on the results from a general internet search is problematic when searching for health information as advertisers can use search engine optimization techniques to ensure their products are some of the first among returned results (De Freitas, 2014). Drug company websites for medications can also be problematic as some are created to draw the eye towards positive images and statements, and away from side-effects, or effective alternative treatments.
Conclusion
Through print, television, and internet advertisements, we work to convince you to explore our products. That said. Our stand as pharmaceutical company is to educate the public about a disease and be guided by the the doctor on medication to take. This will eradicated misuses of drugs and even drugs resistance.
THS ARTICLE WAS INSPIRED BY: Modern Drug Advertisements, Themes & FDA Regulations | Weill Cornell Medicine Samuel J. Wood Library
