Save the Date - RSVP Now

Latest News


DALL·E-2025-02-14-13.49.20-A-dynamic-collage-representing-Super-Bowl-advertisements.-The-image-features-a-stadium-ba.webp

February 14, 2025 0

Pharmaceuticals joined the big advertising game in New Orleans, running two :60 spots. They were not ads for a particular brand but were corporate type messaging. Novartis focused on breast cancer in what was a unique creative montage of showing breasts in a myriad of situations both real life and in art. This ad was certainly 180 degrees different from what would be expected in a drug company breast cancer awareness ad. For about 40 of the 60 seconds the theme was just look at the breasts with a musical background saying “I know you are looking.” Actress Hailee Steinfeld was part of the montage.

Then, in the last 20 seconds, a more conventional looking appeal started for diagnosing breast cancer with comedian Wanda Sykes. She encouraged patients to get early detection and treatment. Clearly Novartis wanted to break the mold of the standard disease education ads. They did.

You can’t be boring, and Novartis and Pfizer certainly met that requirement.

Pfizer was also up to the creative task with its highly engaging cancer research ad. Showing a child in a hospital bed who then gets up and parades through the streets in a Rocky-like scene with boxing attire. A super appears saying to cancer that we are going to knock you out. Singer LL Cool J provides the background song. Then the ad closes with a super saying Pfizer is working on drugs for eight different cancer breakthroughs by 2030.

Both ads are excellent in getting the stopping power needed for a Super Bowl entry. You can’t be boring, and Novartis and Pfizer certainly met that requirement. Each ad left you guessing what the ad was for until its last third. This is in keeping with Super Bowl ads in general trying to hook you on a story before revealing the sponsoring brand or company.

Branded drug ads are just not going to work on the Super Bowl. Spending millions on an ad with half devoted to risks and side effects does not make sense. That brings us to a third drug ad, but not from a drug company. Hims & Hers, a direct seller in many drug categories, ran a provocative ad critical of the cost of drugs and saying the health care system is not working for us. The first part of the ad was on obesity disease education; fairly standard stuff. Then the ad tore into the weight loss industry for failed approaches and pharma for high prices. Then it turned to how Hims & Hers has affordable meds made in the USA.

Congress is concerned that companies like Hims & Hers are advertising drugs with no fair balance. Proposed legislation would treat these drug sellers similarly to pharmaceutical companies. After all, they are making drugs through compounding and are trying to diagnose and sell directly. Sounds like a drug maker. Why are they able to compete with drug companies but allowed to eschew fair balance? These compounded drugs carry risks and side effects similar to Wegovy or Zepbound. Hopefully Congress will impose reasonable requirements to add fair balance as these types of direct sellers are booming. The Hims & Hers ad was attention getting and tapped into the concerns consumers have about GLP prices. That said, it is ironic the only Super Bowl drug ad was not from a drug company.

 

Bob Ehrlich


June 29, 2018 0

The latest Chantix smoking cessation DTC television ad is featuring my favorite wise guy actor Ray Liotta. Looking a little grayer and heavier Ray is still the iconic member of the De Niro/Pesci crew from Goodfellas, maybe only slightly behind The Godfather in my favorites list. Ray is also in my favorite baseball movie Field of Dreams, portraying the leader of the dead baseball players returning to Kevin Costner’s cornfield.

Ray’s lifelong bugaboo was getting to stop smoking. Pfizer is using him to promote Chantix and rather than just being a paid announcer he is actually a real patient, still paid handsomely I assume. I like him in this role. Usually I wonder how much a celebrity adds to a drug pitch. Do potential users really care that a Hollywood type uses a drug? There have been very effective celebrity campaigns, Sally Field for Boniva, Jennifer Aniston for Dry Eye, Phil Mickelson for Psoriatic Arthritis to name a few.

Bob Ehrlich
“Ray got my attention.”
-Bob Ehrlich

A celebrity campaign needs to get the audience to believe that the celebrity actually uses or really believes in the drug advertised. There are some celebrities who endorse anything and pushing garlic pills, grape juice, reverse mortgages, might hurt your credibility when pushing a cancer treatment. Drug companies need to be very careful that the celebrity chosen has limited exposure as an endorser of health products.

Ray Liotta, to my recollection is not a serial endorser. In fact I do not remember him doing any commercials. That is a good first step. Can I Imagine Ray Liotta having a smoking habit? Sure can. Is Ray credible saying he has had a lifelong problem stopping smoking? Yes. So far so good. What is interesting about the campaign is that Chantix has been on air for years with regular folks pitching their success. Maybe they felt they needed to reinvigorate the story and potential customers would stop and re-engage after all the years of real patient testimonials. Ray got my attention, maybe a bit less than Joe Pesci would have, but any Goodfella is better than none.

I do not know if this is a one off use of a celebrity for Chantix or the first in a series. One thing we know is Hollywood is likely full of smokers, and addicts of other less than legal substances. No credibility issue with Ray having a smoking addiction. I am sure Pfizer will be very careful vetting their celebrity candidates. With all the problems of celebrity reveals on past sexual harassment/assault it is important to do your homework. I think they have chosen well here. Congratulations to Pfizer and their agency for a well done celebrity campaign.

Bob Ehrlich