Side effects may vary
Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 3:00 AM by Allison Linn
Here’s the great thing about drug ads: no matter whether the spot is outstanding, mystifying or just plain silly, it’s virtually guaranteed to get your attention in the last few seconds. I’m talking, of course, about the obligatory warnings.
For starters, if you’re watching some of these spots with friends, you can immediately start playing a game of, “Is it humanly possible to talk as fast as the person who is spouting off these side effects?” If you can keep up with the fast-talking narrator of the commercial for the sleeping pill Ambien, which could cause sleep walking or even sleep eating, consider a career change to auctioneer.
Then there are the warnings themselves. An ad for Mirapex, a drug for restless leg syndrome, starts out entertainingly enough, with a headless stick figure struggling with and then overcoming the symptoms of the sometimes controversial illness.
The kicker comes toward the end:
“Tell your doctor … if you experience increased gambling, sexual or other intense urges.”
Hmm. It makes you wonder whether the side effects might be worse than the illness.
Promotional materials for alli, the highly hyped over-the-counter weight-loss drug, are a bit more vague. They refer to unspecified “treatment effects.” A little digging through the company’s Web site reveals that phrase is a euphemism for problems that could include loose stools and other unpleasant and “hard to control” gastrointestinal reactions.
Ick.
A video promotion for Celebrex, an arthritis pain reliever that has come under fire for suspected increases in heart health problems, takes more of an ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ tack. The entire spot revolves around the idea that Celebrex isn’t the only non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID, that could lead to potentially fatal consequences.
“You may think some prescription NSAID pain relievers, like ibuprofen and naproxen, are safer than Celebrex. But if you look closer, you will see that, based on the available research, the chance of having of having a heart attack or stroke from taking naproxen or ibuprofen may be the same as Celebrex,” the voiceover says.
Gee, is that supposed to make us feel better?
The obligatory reading of the side effects in drug commercials is, in fact, so amusing that plenty of parodies have popped up. One classic is this fake promotion for “Havidol,” which lists side effects including “interspecies communication” and warns that “Very rarely, users may experience a need to change physicians.”
Sadly, the ad parody was so good some people mistook Havidol for a real drug.
Click here to watch the fake Havidol ad and here to see the impressive parody Web site, with a complete list of “side effects.”
