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These ads are one of the main reasons I became a cord cutter. I'm very happy they have not yet followed me onto any of the streaming services I use. They are t
by nsxwolf 11y ago
These ads are one of the main reasons I became a cord cutter. I'm very happy they have not yet followed me onto any of the streaming services I use.
They are the creepiest thing ever on television. The actors sit around dinner tables with family members speaking unnatural, FDA manipulated dialog ("Oh, I'm doing great, I've been taking Pradaxa for my afib, not caused by a heart valve problem!") Then you get the unending list of side effects read aloud ("death" almost always one) while the actors smile and stare off into space.
Occasionally, one of these ads will come in a 2 minute and 30 second variety that fills the entire commercial break.
A regulation I'd like to see is that all the side effects must be acted out in the commercial as they are read. Show the peacefully sleeping woman suddenly awakened, choking on her swelling tongue. Or a man running around with an actual 4+ hour erection.
- kristopolous 11y agoDave Barry, is that you?
- hockeybias 11y agoThat would meet the great entertainment criteria 'informative AND entertaining'.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- DanBC 11y agoDid you check comment history?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- archwild 11y agoHe/she did not state anywhere that the government should ban them.
- Eldarrion 11y agoAs Chris Rock put it some years back, the commercials are getting more and more ridiculous each year. To quote: "So I was listening to this one where it goes... Do you go to bed in the evening and wake up in the morning? And I went Oh my god! I totally got that! I should go see a doctor!" Really couldn't have said it better myself.
- chjj 11y agoI wrote a screenplay for a Prozac commercial. INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT FADE IN ON: Supremely apathetic insomnia-afflicted MAN fantasizing about putting a revolver to his head. NARRATOR (V.O.) (speaking at breakneck pace) Side effects may include suicidal thoughts... CUT TO BLACK as gunshot is heard. MOONLIGHT SONATA begins to play. SUPER: Prozac - Because you deserve to be happy.
- arawde 11y agoMy only critique of your script is that the ordering between the side effects and the product name would seem to imply that other medications cause more side effects than Prozac
- Splines 11y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gMjJNGg9Z8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gMjJNGg9Z8 (wait 30 seconds)
- 37 11y ago[as] on hn I could have never imagined
- hammock 11y agoThe irony of wanting to ban Rx drug ads because they are creepy, is that it was regulations that made them creepy to begin with. (You seem aware of this already) There is an argument to be made for consumer advertising for a drug like Viagra. Without awareness that an effective treatment exists, patients with ED or another embarrassing condition are not likely to bring it up with their doctor on their own, thus resulting in unnecessary suffering. Another argument is that for various reasons some patients are unlikely to seek a second opinion, even when one is warranted. Consumer advertising is a way to present alternative treatment options to a patient whose doctor will not.
- Turbo_hedgehog 11y agoWhat if you allow basically the same ad but disallow mention of any brand names - only the generic name or condition to be treated?
- johncolanduoni 11y agoThen we have a tragedy of the commons, where Pfizer and Lilly (the makers of Viagra and Cialis respectively) will wait for the other to create generic ED ads that they will both benefit from.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoThe solution seems to be public awareness ad campaigns to remove the stigma surrounding talking to your GP about embarrassing conditions, while still outlawing the advertising of specific drugs.
- alanh 11y agoOr they would, you know, work together for exactly this reason, like how dairy farmers supported Got Milk? together
- johncolanduoni 11y ago"Got Milk?" was originally commissioned by the California Milk Processor Board, which is administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (i.e. the government) [1]. Also note that milk lacks much in the way of strong brand identity or distinguishing features, unlike Viagra and Cialis which are very different medications. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Got_Milk%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Got_Milk%3F
- colanderman 11y ago> I'm very happy they have not yet followed me onto any of the streaming services I use. Really? They're all over YouTube and Hulu. They even come in a special widget with tiny text automatically scrolling on the right half and the ad playing in the left half. Just as uninformative and prosaic as the over-the-air spots.
- nsxwolf 11y agoFor some reason I don't see them on Hulu. Once I do, it's goodbye Hulu.
- vijayr 11y agosimilarly, there should be a law that prevents the legalese fonts from being microscopic - there should be some minimum font size for these, regardless of where they appear (tv, print, online whatever)
- slouch 11y agoThat already exists for the labeling of alcoholic beverages in America.
- samuellevy 11y agoThey're in Hulu. As a non-American, currently living in America, these ads are the strangest thing I've seen on TV.
- hsuresh 11y agoI am new here in US, and I was shocked to see ads for sleeping pills on kids channels (Cartoon Network, iirc). Unbelievable.
- memonkey 11y agoThere was an incredibly smart and hilarious ad created by those at Adult Swim completely in line with what you're saying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gMjJNGg9Z8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gMjJNGg9Z8
- Lx1oG-AWb6h_ZG0 11y agoWow, that was intense.. Not sure if I'd call it hilarious, but damn, that was mind blowing. (Also, check out the related video about smart pipe, it's depressing how close to reality that is.)
- yread 11y agoThe website is also pretty cool http://www.adultswim.com/promotions/claridryl/ http://www.adultswim.com/promotions/claridryl/
- rodgerd 11y ago> They are the creepiest thing ever on television. Most perfectly satarised in Robocop. Which looks, every year, more and more like it's being used as a road map.
- mrweasel 11y ago>These ads are one of the main reasons I became a cord cutter. These ads are also an important source of revenue for the networks. The TV stations are going to fight this as much as the drug companies will, if not more. As you point to, some of these ads are long and long means expensive. I don't see how the networks won't fight this. If it becomes illegal to advertise drugs to consumers, the interesting thing won't be what the drug companies does (they'll just target the doctors and save a ton of money). The interesting thing will be what TV will do to make up for lost revenue.
- rplnt 11y ago> Then you get the unending list of side effects read aloud ("death" almost always one) I think most of those rare side effects are not related to the drug at all. They just "happened" during the trials and they have to be included. At least in EU they are categorized by th frequency, so if the death is listed as 1 in 10000, I wouldn't consider it a side effect.
- nsxwolf 11y agoI understand that they are rare side effects and the disclosure is required by regulation. But it's creepy. Commercials for candy don't have to warn you that you can choke on it. Even peanut butter commercials don't have to mention peanut allergies.