Presence and Absence of information about antibiotics and growth hormones in Food Advertising, Packaging and Price Promotion

withroh OCT Drugs

In modern society countless foods and beverages are sold ‘over the counter’ in supermarkets, convenience stores and drugstores that contain traces of antibiotics as well as growth hormones.

A vast array of chemical additives is also used to extend shelf life, enhance taste and flavor stability and packaged-food aroma. The mixture of profit motives involving chemical additive manufacturers and food processors quickly reaches beyond the grasp of this post and the assignment it is based upon, so our primary focus will be upon the axis of ‘advertised absence of growth hormones and antibiotics versus non-advertised presence of these drugs’ with the aim of expanding awareness of the need for advertised presence in foods and beverages.

Many scientific studies over the past two decades 8,9 have revealed known harm and as-yet-uncatalogued-risks to human health by antibiotics and growth hormones.

Many over-the-counter foods – from store-endorsed and branded meats, poultry and dairy products sold through Safeway and Fred Meyer (et. al.) to branded fast food merchandised by McDonald’s, KFC, Dairy Queen and Burger King (etc.) contain these antibiotics and growth hormones, but reveal nothing about them in product presentations, whether in advertising appearing in newspaper supplements or on highly regulated food packaging which is required to reveal to consumers what they are buying and eating. Thus, while the absence of many chemicals and trace hormones and antibiotics is now aggressively promoted on food labels and store advertising in newspapers, widely presented as ‘organic’ and ‘free of preservatives’ and ‘no antibiotics or growth hormones’ ‘no GM of source products and feed’ and the like, the presence (but not quantity) of chemical additives is required to be revealed on package labels, but trace growth hormones and antibiotics fed to animals or introduced by inoculation of animals are not disclosed either in advertising or on package labels when lab analysis reveals they are present.

In the price-promotion advertisement below, taken from a Safeway Stores discount page printed and distributed through a local newspaper, the only data provided beyond ‘USDA Choice’ or other quality rating, which permits this T-bone beefsteak to be compared to steaks from other sources, is price.

The oversize white letters in the red box stating $5.77 per lb. along with the banner ‘USDA choice’ label is designed to promote a purchase decision almost entirely on the basis of price. Further inquiry into the meaning of ‘USDA choice’ reveals little beyond fat content and standards of handling, refrigeration and time-to-market measures – nothing at all about what the animals are fed, what inoculations they have routinely been given in what quantities, and what chemical additives have been introduced to retard decay, sustain (or add to) hydration, add appealing color or to enhance or sustain natural taste.

Thus, it is the principal purpose of this post to showcase a vast distinction between advertising, POS promotion and packaging which is required to reveal specified measures of food features such as saturated and unsaturated fat, sodium, carbohydrates and protein, but not required to reveal to important health risks of food content, both derived from animals fed an inoculated prior to harvest and market, and through additives introduced during processing.

By only mentioning the price and not important quality and purity features, the advertising passively conceals potentially harmful properties of the product, thus denying consumers information that would make them aware at least of potential risks, and concealing the presence by omission of adulterating trace drugs and chemicals. This concealment-by-omission not only denies the buyer important information, but also suggests by omission that it is not important, since buyers are today are accustomed to receiving a great deal of product information related to health and detailed product content, prior to and at the time of purchase.

The standard for advertising and product packaging, unless information is specifically required to include traces of feed and medicines used during animal breeding and farming, the information can be omitted. T-bone beefsteak which also contains trace antibiotics and growth hormones is ‘T-Bone Steak’.

In Contrast
Increasingly, a rival food merchandising organization (supermarket), Fred Meyer, has dedicated an increasing share of foodstore floor-and-shelf space to ‘natural’ and ‘organic foods.’ First one aisle, then two, now four aisles in each of their stores here in Bellingham.

Here we see examples of three packages featuring important affirmative notices of exclusions:

[ Simple Truth eggs photo ] [ Simple Truth Waffles ] [ Simple Truth Egg White ]
no growth hormones, no antibiotics free of preservatives from hens raised in an a humane environment with organic feed-source8 –
Increasingly, we see ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ food products offered and promoted in mainstream food stores, not only ‘health food markets’ which began to take hold in the 1960s. Today we have a mainstream populated by brands and stores that provide product information they are legally required to provide. What they provide today is dramatically more than what was required only a decade ago. The ‘pull-along’ effect of the natural and organic foods, whose producers use affirmative information of what their products do not contain, will eventually influence legislation which requires mainstream producers to include equivalent information, and to remedy the contents of their products so that the affirmative truth is an integral component of their appeal.

It is almost universal today that trans fats are in many states, simply banned – no food products can be offered for sale which contain them. And as label laws require reporting wherever they are still allowed, producers are gradually forced to eliminate them. Imagine the effect on sales of fish or seafood if law required a newspaper promotion to report that growth hormones or antibiotics had been used to assist the farming of ‘salmon’ or ‘trout’ or ‘shrimp’ along with a price promotion. Very quickly, either promotions would disappear or the use of the drugs and adulterants would cease. The wheels of change grind slowly, but they do roll on!

Background
Antibiotics are used in rearing farm animals for two essential purposes: (1) to prevent disease which can harm the animals, spread quickly through herds and flocks, or render meat and dairy products unsalable because of disease traces they are found to contain during USDA inspections, and (2) through a variety of animal husbandry methods involving elimination of microbial strains, to actively promote growth of the animals.

Antibiotics are medicines typically used to treat a wide variety of infections or diseases caused by bacteria. They do so by stopping growth and reproduction of bacteria; but not only harmful bacteria. Antibiotics also attack, and often eliminate, healthy bacteria in the human body, thus detracting from functions that aid health and natural body processes (example: lactobacillus that aids digestive processes in the intestine -source1 ) It is also now documented that antibiotics, through complex microbial and cell processes, promote growth in humans as well as animals, so that animals administered these drugs can pass growth-promoting drugs to humans who consume their flesh which contains residual amounts of the drugs consumed by the animals in feed or administered to them through inoculation against disease.

Although keeping the animals protected against disease, antibiotics passed through food also promote development of increasingly drug-resistant bacteria in the animals and humans who eat their flesh. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Mycobacterium are particularly dangerous ‘superbugs’ whose populations are promoted through widespread use of antibiotics in food and medicines. The newly developed antibiotic-resistant bacteria will then no longer ‘respond to’ antibiotics (stop growth and die) that have worked in the past. According to the Journal of American Medical Association, long term/ frequent consumption of antibiotics result in even common infections becoming more difficult to treat. Patients required extended hospital stays, where many dangerous pathogens flourish, and the spread of these resistant bacteria is increasingly threaten human communities.-source2-

Antibiotic also risk of numerous side-effects such as an upset stomach, nausea, diarrhea. Such conditions cause stress and thus reduce the strength of the body’s natural immune system, increasing vulnerability to disease. In more severe situations, antibiotics cause allergic reactions, such as rash, swelling of the face and tongue. Symptoms such as difficulty breathing, even hives and wheezing to anaphylactic shock can occur within an hour of taking antibiotics.-source3-

Currently, antibiotics can be used to treat animal/ food products, without the need to show percentage and precise trace quantities of antibiotics a meat, dairy or poultry product contains.
Because the FD does not require food producers or sellers to show traces in advertising, packaging or labeling, this information is not made available to consumers according to source or brand. The FDA has also approved antibiotics to be used for production purposes, such as to enhance growth or improve feed efficiency despite research showing that it will spur drug-resistance among bacteria(source4). Producing and selling organizations are thus allowed to incorporate antibiotics in widely distributed foods sold ‘over-the-counter’ that could cause significant harm to consumers without their knowledge of what their food contains and what its unrevealed contents are doing to their bodies.

Another aspect of foods that are not mentioned in advertisements are how companies manipulate growth hormones in animals such as cows and salmon. They do so by increasing the insulin-like growth factor (IGF), which mimics effects of human growth hormones in a harmful manner. -Source 5- growth hormones originate from the pituitary gland in normal circumstances– spurring growth in children and teenagers as well as helping to regulate body composition, body fluids, muscle and bone growth, body metabolism, and heart function. -source6- These artificial growth hormones which are not naturally produced by the pituitary gland promote a host of harmful effects, such as early puberty, excessive weight gain, as well as decreasing estrogen production for women in menopause, significantly affecting their health for years to come.

U.S. courts are moving gradually but steadily towards elimination of ‘false advertising’ (both what is claimed, and what is not revealed) regarding products of animals that have been mutated so much with the help of growth hormones and antibiotics that they are no longer considered the named species.

An example is shown in the case of so-called Kentucky Fried Chicken — where ‘chickens’ are kept alive by tubes being inserted into their bodies, pumping the supply of blood and nutrients throughout their structure. These grotesque ‘chickens’ have no beaks, no feathers, and no feet. Their bone structure is dramatically shrunk to get more meat from each systematic ‘creature.’ These so-called ‘chickens’ have been mutated to the point the KFC is no longer legally permitted to use the word ‘chicken’ on wall or table menus, or in commercial advertising.-source7- They can say ‘crispy KFC sandwich’ but they are not, in a triumph for truth in advertising, permitted to call the item a chicken sandwich.

I would not only not recommend this particular product to a family member or friend, but I would strongly discourage buying any food, soup or beverage product that doesn’t clearly state on the packaging that it doesn’t contain any antibiotic or growth hormones. I would make this suggestion because foods that don’t clearly state what they do not contain, frequently contain traces of antibiotics and growth hormones, which in return can be highly harmful and have a negative health impact on every individual who consumes the product, albeit it over a period of time that does not permit immediate perception of the negative effects.
While purchasing any food products, I would recommend first researching the brand and history of the product, ensuring there aren’t traces of antibiotics and growth hormones before consuming it.

Food Producers, Food Distributors and Food Merchandising Companies
An inescapable requirement is that this blog post include a ‘history of the company that is marketing the product.’

In the U.S. today, there are still millions of companies whose business purpose and profit is based upon harvesting, growing, synthesizing, transporting, distribution and selling food products.
These industries are too vast and numerous to characterize or describe, except, as treated in this post, as a group of industries and organizations as a class. They deliver food, and whether we are talking about the dangers of red dye #2 or the effects on health of growth hormone 51 or the medical side-effects and long-term growth and drug-resistance effects of geo-thermo-heptomycin, the revelation to be shared by this post is as follows:

If it is against the law, and punishable by fines exceeding the available profit, from any venture based upon food product, distribution or marketing, or by imprisonment, to offer food for sale whose sources, derivation, content or additives are not made
freely available to the buyer, the producer or seller will not make the information available. A ‘race to the top’ in a competitive market will never be sufficient for information to be sufficient for safety and fully shared. It costs money to collect, verify, report, submit for inspection, and so forth. Sharing it is also costly, whether this is done through printing in advertising, on a label or as part of an oral or video presentation.

Standards of adequacy for these information activities will require thousands of lawyers and marketing professionals, judges and legislators, government regulators and agents to enforce, to advance to where public health and commercial fairness are fully served.

As long ago as 1911, when Upton Sinclair Lewis reported in The Jungle12 the deplorable and dangerous lack of health standards in the U.S. meat processing industry, the struggle to provide accurate and comprehensive information about our food supplies has been resisted by farmers and producers, not always because they want to hide the truth, but because it is expensive to develop, expensive to advertise, expensive to verify, expensive to police the information provided.

In the narrow scope of this post, concerned with the widespread adulteration of food with trace growth hormones and antibiotics, until recently used almost universally in animal husbandry, we might as a takeaway note the contrast between what is not revealed in advertising and packaging of mainstream meat, dairy and poultry products, and (in passing) the chemical additives used to
improve shelf life and the visual-and-taste appeals of food products; versus what is, increasingly, revealed by ‘certified organic’, ‘hormone free’, ‘antibiotic free’ and ‘preservative and dye-free’ products, to the consumers who purchase and consume them.

The affirmative process of telling consumers what food products do not contain is not enough. We need to be told in plainly stated and available language, what each food product contains.
The costs to do this are high. Buying behavior has shown that a great swath of the consuming marketplace is more concerned with taste, texture and price than with health. The gradually evolving solution, therefore, depends upon education first by those who lead, and eventually, legally mandated compliance, by those who follow.

Sources:
-(1)http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/antibiotic-overuse.html
-(2) https://www.livestrong.com/article/203530-side-effects-of-long-term-antibiotic-use/
-(3)https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/allergic-reactions-to-antibiotics
-(4)https://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/guidancecomplianceenforcement/guidanceforindustry/ucm216939.htm
-(5)http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20458816,00.html
(6)https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/human-growth-hormone-hgh#1
-(7) https://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/kfc.asp
-(8) -(9)Blaser, Martin J. MD, Missing Microbes, Henry Holt and Company, 2014
– (10) Yong, Ed, I Contain Multitudes, The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
-(11) Finlay, B. Brett and Arrieta, Marie-Claire, Let Them Eat Dirt: How Microbes Can Make Your Child Healthier, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2017
-(12) The Bugs That Live on Us and Around Us, Amanda Shaeffer, The New Yorker, March 18, 2016
-(13) Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, 1905, https://fee.org/articles/29-upton-sinclairs-the-jungle-proved-regulation-was-required/
-(14) Germs Are Us, Michael Specter, The New Yorker, October 15, 2012

Cialis Is Here

duranb Prescription Drugs

Introduction

If anyone has ever sat down to watch sports on a Sunday afternoon, Cialis is probably a common name. Cialis is the generic name for tadalfil, a prescription drug used to help with erectile dysfunction in men. In addition to this, Cialis can be used to treat a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia which is the enlargement of the prostate gland.

Growing up, I have always seen the very familiar commercials presenting a happy older couple doing romantic activities as an ad for Cialis. These commercials are almost so common that they are even shown during huge sports events, such as the super bowl, which is one of the most watched TV shows. Due to its extreme normality and popularity, I found myself interested in learning more about the actual risks and side effects of this common dru

 

History

The company that works with Cialis is called Eli Lilly and Company. They operate under their core values, which are integrity, excellence, and respect for people. They do this through working with health care professionals and the people who will be taking their medication. Their mission statement is “We make medicines that help people live longer, healthier, more active lives.” When it comes to Cialis, it is expected that they act with integrity and make drugs that actually do what they say in a safe manner. Their mission statement gives the assumption that they will make sure the people who take their medications are safe and aware of the risks.

On the Cialis website, they are very clear about the risks and side effects associated with Cialis. This shows that Eli Lilly and Company are taking precautions and not lying to their customers or healthy providers. However, in the commercials these warnings are usually read very quickly towards the end and after the consumer may already be hooked on the idea of the product.

The Cialis website does go the extra mile with the awareness that people may be buying this product online through an online prescription and they take notice of this for their consumers. They give guidelines on how to make sure you are not buying counterfeit Cialis that could potentially harm the patient.

 

 

Who should look into Cialis?

The main audience for Cialis is men with erectile dysfunction. As stated previously, Cialis can also treat BPH, but the main issue is erectile dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction (ED) occurs in approximately 18 million men in the United States. Essentially, erectile dysfunction is the inability to get or keep an erection for sexual activity. It can be caused by many things, including heart disease. Obesity, tobacco use, and other related reasons. This many cause some men self-esteem issues, depression, and stress. Many Cialis commercials are targeted at older men, as this is a more common problem for them. A typical place to see a commercial for Cialis is during a sports program as those are views by society as male activities.

 

Active ingredients and risks

According to Rx List, The chemical makeup of Cialis is “pyrazino[1´,2´:1,6]pyrido[3,4-b]indole-1,4-dione, 6-(1,3-benzodioxol-5- yl)-2,3,6,7,12,12a-hexahydro-2-methyl-, (6R,12aR)-. CIALIS (tadalafil) is a selective inhibitor of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-specific phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5). Tadalafil has the empirical formula C22H19N3O4 representing a molecular weight of 389.41.”

You can buy Cialis for oral administration and each tablet contains 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 mg of tadalafill. It does contain the following inactive ingredients as well: croscarmellose sodium, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, iron oxide, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, sodium lauryl sulfate, talc, titanium dioxide, and triacetin.

As with most medications, Cialis does come with come risks. Most of these side effects are rare, but potentially can be very dangerous so users should alert their doctor if they notice any of these. Cialis can cause allergic reactions, chest pain, abnormal heartbeats, bad headaches, weakness, change or loss in eyesight, hearing loss, or muscle pain. The side effects can also be minor and may only be a slight headache or back pain. Runny or stuffy noses are common as well.

 

 

How the advertisements work

Many Cialis commercials are of a man and a woman doing usual activities such as playing tennis or swimming. This is the company trying to relate to the audience on a personal level by showing people do activities that regular people can connect to. This allows the audience to feel connected and to normalize these kind of drugs. Another similar example is Viagra, which has the same effect but is slightly different. These commercials use the same approach. The couples in the commercials are generally very happy, this is to show the result of the drug.

 

 

Personal opinion 

Overall, Cialis has a few purposes. The risks and side effects are made well known, and for what the drug helps with, it seems like a fair trade if that is what someone is looking for. Cialis is not for everyone, so the user should really decide if it is worth it. It comes with a lot of side effects, so it is definitely not the safest route, but it may be the easiest. Alternative options include more physical activity as obesity is a leading cause of erectile dysfunction. However, these options do not work for all causes. I would recommend Cialis to anyone who is seeking to fix their medical problem but is willing to do a little research.

 

Works Cited: 

Lilly USA. (2017, August). Cialis. Retrieved from https://www.cialis.com/

Amermon, D. (2012, August). What Is Cialis? History of the 36-Hour Weekend Erectile Dysfunction Treatment Pill. Retrieved from https://www.accessrx.com/blog/erectile-dysfunction/cialis/erectile-dysfunction-treatment-pill-what-is-cialis-m0727/#

N.a. (2017, November). Cialis. Retrieved from https://www.drugs.com/cdi/cialis.html

Lilly, E. (2017) Who We Are. Retrieved from https://www.lilly.com/who-we-are

N.A. (2016) Erectile Dysfunction. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/erectile-dysfunction/symptoms-causes/syc-20355776

N.A. (2017) Tadalafil. Retrieved from https://www.rxlist.com/cialis-drug.htm

 

Abilify? More like Debilify

olearyr3 Prescription Drugs

Raina Moran

Claudia Wang

HLED 113

Prescription Drugs

 

ABILIFY

 

The links to two of Abilify’s advertisements are as follows: https://youtu.be/tGymr78FtbU and https://youtu.be/MBcfySXbz3k.

I chose this ad because I personally have seen Abiliy’s drug advertisements on many television commercials and even on internet advertisements. Saturday Night Live even did a parody for Abilify in relation to current politicians running for the presidential election.  I was actually quite shocked when I first saw this advertisement for Abilify and for a few reasons which I will explain. What first caught my attention was the very extensive list of side-effects related to the consumption of Abilify. The side-effects were read off by a narrator while the cartoon character representing the patient was picking apples and seemingly enjoying life. The side-effects ranged from increasing thoughts of suicide to permanent uncontrollable muscle movement and even coma or death. The list went on and on. What really bothered me most about Abilify is that this is a drug that is meant to be taken in conjunction with an antidepressant, but it can increase thoughts of suicide and depression. Another reason why I chose this specific drug is because of its very misleading and deceptive cartoon advertisements.

 

COMPANY HISTORY, MISSION, AND CREDENTIALS

 

Abilify was created by a company called Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company. According to Otsuka’s website on a page that was last updated in October of last year, it states that a man named Busaburo Otsuka created the company ‘Otsuka’ in 1921 in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan and had a total of ten employees. Since being established in the early 1920s, Otsuka has now expanded its headquarters to various locations across the globe including America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East. According to their website, Otsuka is now a network of approximately 150 companies and has employed more than 150,000 people worldwide. It is safe to assume that Otsuka is a massive global corporation.

 

When Otsuka first went into production they were manufacturing chemical raw materials. Over the course of production, Otsuka started selling pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals (“nutrition” + “pharmaceuticals”) and today have many other drugs on the market to treat various symptoms and illnesses. Otsuka’s corporate philosophy goes as follows, “Otsuka – people creating new products for better health worldwide.” According to a message written by the current President of Otsuka on Otsuka’s webpage, he states that Otsuka is actively developing major innovations that will potentially meet future needs of advancing societies.  He also went on to say that Otsuka prioritizes maintaining and enhancing current everyday health for people, while simultaneously helping to cure diseases with their products.

 

INTENDED AUDIENCE

 

I recall seeing this advertisement on daytime television frequently while in high school and college. I have also seen this advertisement on YouTube and in multiple magazines ranging from publications like Women’s Health, People, and Health magazine. Abilify has multiple cartoon advertisements and hired actor advertisements displaying mostly middle-aged, female patients that struggle to go about their day. I scoured the internet for all of Abilify’s advertisements and I could not find one single advertisement with a male character as the patient with depression or bipolar disorder. I feel as though Abilify’s main target were women with full-time jobs and especially for women who stayed at home to care of their kids or the house.

Initially, I was not entirely sure why women were targeted, maybe because it is more socially acceptable for women to talk about the feelings and emotions? Maybe because women would be more inclined to ask their doctor about Ability? My questions were answered in an article I found in the New York Times. According to author and psychiatrist Julie Holland in her article titled “Medicating Women’s Feelings” written on February 28, 2015, Julie stated that 1 in 4 women take psychiatric medicine compared to 1 in 7 men. Julie went on to say that women are almost two times more likely than men to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression. With this information, it is no wonder that all of Ability’s advertisements are targeting women.

 

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS

 

The active ingredient in Abilify is aripiprazole. Aripiprazole chemical composition is 7-[4-[4-(2,3dichlorophenyl)-1-piperazinyl]butoxy]-3,4-dihydrocarbostyril. The empirical formula is C23H27Cl2N3O2and its molecular weight is 448.38. Pictured below is the chemical structure.

Tim Newman, author for Medical New Today, wrote an article titled “Aripiprazole (Abilify): Side Effects, Drug Information,” on December 18, 2015 stating that aripiprazole is atypical antipsychotic that works by blocking or binding to

various receptors. Some receptors this drug effects are serotonin, adrenergic, serotonin, muscarinic acetylcholine, and histamines. It also effects some transporter proteins.

Abilify (aripiprazole) was first approved by the FDA in 2002 for treating patients with schizophrenia. In 2012, Abilify was approved to help treat patients with depression as an add-on for antidepressants. There is a long list of side-effects for consuming aripiprazole, including but not limited to, headaches, drowsiness, constipation, irregular heart-beat, tightening of neck muscles and throat, chest pain, seizures, uncontrollable muscle movements, low white blood cell count, confusion, and even coma or death. In patients ranging in age from 77-88 with dementia, research found an increased risk of death with the consumption of aripiprazole in those patients.

One of the most alarming things about aripiprazole is that is not quite known how it works. This drug was designed entirely off of the dopamine hypothesis. Again, according to Tim from Medical News Today, it states that, “The dopamine hypothesis predicts that dopamine hyperactivity in the mesolimbic pathways of the brain (also known as reward pathways) causes delusions, hallucinations and disorganized thoughts.” So, based off this hypothesis, it is thought that if a patient with schizophrenia has a decrease in their dopamine levels in the reward pathways, the patient will experience less symptoms of schizophrenia.

 

ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES

 

Otsuka pushed out a lot of advertisements for Abilify, ranging from daytime television, YouTube, and magazines. I searched the internet to see how much was spent on advertising for Abilify but came up empty-handed. What I do know is that in 2015, over $7 billion was made in sales for Abilify (Reidbord 2015). I am pretty confident that almost everyone has seen an Abilify advertisement, the most popular being the cartoon character commercials. The use of visual imagery played a huge role in those advertisements. In one advertisement for Abilify, it had a blue robe playing the role of the woman’s depression. The blue robe would be lurking around the woman and then suddenly be worn on the woman, signifying that depression got the best of her. Similarly, in another ad, depression was played by a blue umbrella that would rain on the woman when held in her hand. Each advertisement had persuasive imagery and followed the same script. The patient would always claim that the only regret they had was not talking to their doctor sooner about taking Abilify. While an extremely long list of side-effects is read off, the patient is shown enjoying life with her family. One advertisement showed the woman happily picking apples and another had the woman cooking a barbeque with her family. Surprisingly, the side-effects were read off slowly enough to hear, but I think many people were distracted by the imagery on the screen to actually understand the implications of taking this drug. Light-hearted music plays in the background while serious, life-threatening conditions related to consuming Abilify are read off as it were no big deal. In other advertisements, a woman character is shown walking around in gloomy weather when talking about her depression. After she talks to her doctor about Ability and begins taking the drug, the woman is shown smiling and taking pictures with her family.

 

MY OPINION OF ABILIFY

 

Based on what I have read about Abilify, and even from their own commercials and advertisements, I would NEVER recommend this drug to a good friend or a family member. I wouldn’t even recommend it to someone I am not particularly fond of. I just do not see the point of taking Abilify with an antidepressant when the drug itself can increase symptoms of depression and suicidal thoughts. Not to mention that each individual pill retails at $30. It is incredibly expensive and non-sustainable. I do not think that there has been enough research done towards the long-term effects of taking an antipsychotic like Abilify. New lawsuits are emerging stating that many patients who have taken Abilify now display impulsive urges and behaviors such as gambling, according to an article written by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein Law Firm.

I personally believe that side-effects of taking Abilify far outweigh the benefits. The question becomes would you rather have depression or uncontrollable muscles movements. It actually shocks me that a drug with such serious side-effects is advertised to consumers on national television. This is information that doctors should know and not something patients should be asking their doctors about. Overall, I consider this drug to be highly profitable to the company who created it and highly detrimental to anyone’s health who consumes it.

 

 

SOURCES CITED:
History of Otsuka. (October 2016). Retrieved December 6, 2017, from: https://www.otsuka-us.com/discover/our-history

Holland, J. (February 28, 2015). Medicating Women’s Feelings. New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/opinion/sunday/medicating-womens-feelings.html

Kopf, J. H. (July 30, 2009). Adwatch: Abilify finds lucrative new audience. Consumer Report. Retrieved from: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2009/07/adwatch-abilify-finds-lucrative-new-audience/index.htm

Newman, T. (December 18, 2015). Aripiprazole (Abilify): Side Effects, Drug Information. Medicalnewstoday.com. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248385.php

Reidbord, S. (March 8, 2015). America’s top selling drug is an antipsychotic. Retrieved from: http://blog.stevenreidbordmd.com/?p=1002

Lieff, C. H., & Bernstein. (October 2016). Retrieved from: https://www.lieffcabraser.com/injury/drugs/abilify-gambling/?gclid=CjwKCAiAx57RBRBkEiwA8yZdUDpRanNk8aLMxmeQlSKtM-t6m4UkmiaZyU7LIJ8yvww3wP7vmsUvnRoCJX8QAvD_BwE

Ritalin

stanlem6 Uncategorized

https://prescriptiondrugs.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=005631

For this blog post, I chose the prescription drug Ritalin. I chose this drug because of the common abuse of it across college campuses and in society in general (along with Adderall). I chose this specific advertisement picture because it was one of the most common advertisements that came up when I searched for one on this drug.

 

The main American company that sells Ritalin is Novartis. This company has many locations around the world, including 68 in the United States. Although I found that they are the main company that distributes Ritalin, their main focuses in disease areas are cancer, cardio-metabolic, immunology and dermatology, ophthalmology, neuroscience, and respiratory. When I was going through their website and looking at each focus group, not one had a subcategory for ADD or ADHD (the common disorders Ritalin is used for). I went to subtitle for “Our Strategy” on their website. There they shared their mission for their company, “Our strategy is to use science-based innovation to deliver better patient outcomes in growing areas of healthcare.” They also had a subtitle for “Our Values.” The list of their values included: innovation, quality, collaboration, performance, courage, and integrity, I decided to look up this company in the news to see if they lived up to their own values in real life. I found that the company has recently been sued in Australia for “false or misleading marketing of their pain relief gels.” This isn’t directly tied to their distribution of Ritalin but misleading the consumers doesn’t fall into the categories of any of their values. Since that is a very recent story, I looked at Novartis’s website where they had a tab for “Media.” This tab took me to a list of news articles that praised what they are doing and how beneficial it is (this was expected considering I found it on their own website). I am not claiming that the company is bad in any way; from the looks of it, I do believe they are doing very beneficial research. I was mostly concerned that they didn’t have a direct tab to their product of Ritalin. When I searched the name Ritalin in their search bar, my result was “There are no results for your search.” I am assuming they just generate the product within their company but it is not one of their focuses.

 

The advertisement that I am using is specifically targeted at children. The main headline on the advertisement says, “Let the ADD child leave his medicine home.” I can easily deduce that this advertisement is intended for parents to see for their children. In a finer print under the picture of a young boy doing school work, it states “greater convenience,” “no medicating at school,” and “teacher and school nurse not involved.” This is intended for parents to see that this drug is designed to make their lives easier in the long run. Since this advertisement is from 1988, I assume that this advertisement was found in newspapers and magazines mostly; exactly where a parent or guardian would be looking.

 

Ritalin’s active ingredient is methylphenidate hydrochloride and is a mild CNS stimulant meant to help with attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and narcolepsy by affecting “chemicals in the brain and nerves that contribute to hyperactivity and impulse control.” The active ingredient in Ritalin is an addictive ingredient and is a drug of abuse. It is stated to “tell your doctor if you have had problems with drug or alcohol abuse” because of this habit-forming ingredient. The drug can cause psychosis to increase or appear when used and can cause blood circulation problems. When looking at the advertisement I am using, a lot of this information can be found on it. They have contradictions, warnings, interactions, precautions, adverse reactions, dosage, and overdose sections that cover all that information. The only problem: it is in TINY print. I had to zoom in on my computer to read it and I do not believe it would be very legible if it was in a newspaper or magazine. When I searched online for information about Ritalin, I found the same type of information plus a list of side effects. The website I used (drugs.com) had much more information on the drug than the advertisement and it was all easier to read and understand. The biggest concerns I found about this drug are the high possibility of forming an addiction and the stress it can have on the heart. If a person is a long-time user of Ritalin, they can collapse one day doing anything from a heart attack and die (this is obviously not a common situation but it is still a possibility). The advertisement provides a list of side effects (adverse reactions) that come along with the use of the drug; the most common ones being nervousness and insomnia. I am happy to say that this advertisement does box out the section called “Drug Dependence” so those who are reading know it is an important section for the reader to focus on. My biggest issue with this advertisement is that all of the important information is written in such fine print that I am unsure if a reader would be able to actually read it if it were printed out.

 

This advertisement has a couple advertising techniques. The biggest ones being an attention-grabbing phrase at the top and a picture. The picture is of a younger boy who is working on school work. I am assuming this photo was chosen to show parents what their child ‘could be like’ if they gave him/her this once-a-day drug. The attention-grabbing phrase at the top reads “Let the ADD child leave his medicine at home.” This will grab the parents’ attention because they will not have to worry about the young child getting his medication to school, the parents will not have to deal with the school nurse/teachers, and their life will be made easier. This advertisement does not use celebrities or statistics in it. I think they should considering they make the section of Drug Dependence stand out and that could easily turn away people from the product. If they make that section so known, they should also have statistics to go with it so customers know they are really taking based off what other people say and feel.

 

All in all, I am in support of this drug BUT not for children and only if it taken responsibly. Once a person is mature enough to decide for him or herself to take it, I believe it could be extremely beneficial if they have any of the conditions it is prescribed for. For children though, I do not believe it should be the ‘go-to’ option. By looking at the effects of the drug and what it can do to your body, I do not believe a high habit-forming drug should be given to young children without their knowledge of what it will do to their body. I believe other methods should be approached first and if absolutely nothing else works, this drug could be considered an option. I have personal experiences with this type of drug and I have seen it being abused by a close friend. I have also seen it help friends who take it responsibly and the way it is supposed to be taken. When I searched Ritalin in the news section of google, all the articles that came up were about people abusing the drug, or doctors getting arrested for writing fraudulent prescriptions for it. The way society is abusing this type of drug is not acceptable and needs to be handled but if it is taken responsibly and for the right reasons, I believe it could be very effective and beneficial.

 

 

 

Malibu Rum – Drug Ad Debunk – HLED 151

carlinl Uncategorized

Malibu Rum – Drug Ad Debunk – HLED 151

Luc Carlin

HLED 151

Malibu Rum

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xGroEzJgYs This is an advertisement for Malibu Rum titled “The Story of Summer You”. I chose this ad because I think it does an especially good job of representing marketing tactics used by so many drug and alcohol companies, which predominantly entails trying to appeal to younger adults. This ad greatly glorifies its product, in doing so is attempting to convince viewers that their life will be more glamorous and care-free if they drink Malibu. The tropical and “summery” scenery they employ here make this ad interesting to analyze because it is a textbook example of how drug and alcohol companies are trying to appeal to people in their 20s and 30s. Many ads that are trying to sell products try to appeal to youth, and this ad is certainly no exception that, and is incredibly representative of modern marketing techniques, which is my primary reason for choosing it.
  2. Malibu Rum originated in the 1980s, and in 2002 was sold from Diageo to Allied Domecq for $800 million, according to a BBC article from 2002. A New York Times article from 2002 stated that Malibu was the third-largest rum brand in the US at the time. In a 2005 NYT article, it was announced that Pernod Ricard of France (the current owner of the rum brand) was planning to spend $14 billion on purchasing Allied Domecq, with plans “to become the world’s largest liquor company” (Kanter). The company has collaborated with celebrities such as Major Lazer, a popular musical group, for creating ads for their products. In a 2016 article, it was stated that Pernod Ricard wanted Malibu to become “the spirit brand of choice for summer” (Mortimer). Malibu is sold in most places where other alcohol is sold, and has different varieties including “Malibu Black” and “Malibu U.”
  3. The intended audience here is young adults. The ad is definitely targeted towards those who are at a point in their life where they go on loud, lively, social vacations. The ad uses the narrative of comparing “summer you” versus “regular you,” implying that Malibu is something to be drunk while in warm, carefree, vacation-like environments. Also most of the people and actors featured in the ad are young, which implies that the company is trying to appeal to younger audiences. Since the ad is a video, it most likely is aired on TV, YouTube, and other streaming services with frequent advertisements where the company knows young adults will see it. The ad also uses an abundance of lively social scenes, which further implies that it is meant to grab the attention of young people and galvanize them to drink and party and crave that sort of lifestyle.
  4. Since Malibu is an alcoholic beverage, its active ingredient is ethanol. According to Harvard’s Public Health website, ethanol affects the body in several ways, including altering mood, concentration, and coordination. Harvard’s site also lists that in terms of organs, ethanol has impacts on “stomach, brain, heart, gallbladder, and liver.” The ad definitely does not disclose any of this information, with no mention or representation of how alcohol affects these body parts, and also how it can alter your mood. Furthermore, alcohol is addictive, and Malibu is not an exception to that. The ad does have a small disclaimer at the bottom that states “Sip easily. Enjoy Malibu responsibly.” All alcohol advertisements are legally required to do this, but it is not very informative as to what exactly is dangerous about drinking. At the end of the ad, the company lists its nutritional facts, including how many calories and grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates are in one serving.
  5. The prominent marketing techniques Malibu utilizes here include grabbing the attention of the audience, and using visual imagery to do so. The heart of this ad lies in how it uses tropical, warm scenery and a young, lively cast to set the mood of the ad and the product to appeal to a younger audience. This makes sense, as Malibu is a coconut-flavored tropical alcoholic beverage, so having an ad set in the tropics with warm weather and dancing and music just adds to the “summery”, relaxed mentality this ad is trying to create. The deceptive component of this ad lies in the fact that it shows everyone who is consuming Malibu in the video as being healthy and happy. In reality those who drink hard alcohol frequently have health problems. The ad also fails to show the risks and less glamorous side of the drink, which includes hangovers and drunk driving and other safety risks. This ad is also deceptive because it tells the audience that in order to feel happy, excited, “care-free,” and relaxed, you need to drink Malibu. It portrays that without Malibu, you are boring and moody and average, but that that all falls away when you have their product which makes you become and feel exceptional. In a 2016 DIGIDAY article, Pernod Ricard USA director of media Andre Marciano stated that the brand planned to spend 75 % of its total marketing budget on digital activities, in contrast to 60% of its total market being spent on digital advertising from the previous year. This speaks to how Malibu is using technology and imagery to appeal to its audience, especially younger Americans. “With consumers always on their mobile phones, it is the ultimate point to remind them to choose our products in fun ways,” Marciano said (Dua). This article also reiterates the fact that Malibu is clearly trying to appeal to younger generations with its advertisements. The article states, “As it does this, it seeks to increasingly appeal to a younger, over-21 millennial audience of both men and women without losing that ‘chill, fun summer vibe’” (Dua). The piece also mentions that Malibu actually has a campaign called “Malibros” dedicated to marketing their product on social media sites around the time when most college students take their spring breaks.
  6. Overall, I believe that Malibu is not as harmful as cigarette and prescription drugs that are advertised. However, it is still dangerous because it is an addictive substance, and its marketers try to distort reality by convincing their audience that their lives will improve if they use their product, in this case alcohol, which is very detrimental, especially for young people. Advertising, particularly digital advertising because it is so widely spread and seen by younger people on social media, has a great amount of sway and power when it comes to convincing people from younger generations what to buy. That being said, I think that Malibu itself, if consumed rarely and responsibly, is less harmful than cigarettes and prescription drugs. The main reason I have concluded this is because alcohol is so commonly used in social situations, and while there are addicts and alcoholics, it is possible for people to responsibly and safely drink without it taking too much of a toll on their overall health. Conversely, cigarettes and prescription drugs pose a much more serious threat in terms of addiction and health risks. Because of this, I would caution a family member or friend using it, as I would with any amount of alcohol, and warn them that even though alcohol is not as overtly addictive or unhealthy as other substances, it still poses a risk, and does also have potential to threaten one’s safety and judgement.

 

Bibliography

Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits. (2016, April 12). Retrieved November 30, 2017, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/alcohol-full-story/

BUSINESS | Diageo sells Malibu rum. (2002, February 27). Retrieved November 30, 2017, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1844577.stm

Dua, T. (2016, July 12). Why Malibu rum is spending 75 percent of its marketing budget on digital. Retrieved November 30, 2017, from https://digiday.com/marketing/malibu-bullish-digital/

Kanter, H. T. (2005, April 22). Purchase of Allied Domecq Seen Spurring Other Deals. Retrieved November 30, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/business/worldbusiness/purchase-of-allied-domecq-seen-spurring-other-deals.html?_r=0

Kapner, S. (2002, February 27). Malibu Rum Being Sold By Diageo To Domecq. Retrieved November 30, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/28/business/malibu-rum-being-sold-by-diageo-to-domecq.html

Mortimer, N. (2016, November 11). Pernod Ricard wants Malibu to ‘own all summer drinks’ and has picked Huge to push the plan through. Retrieved November 30, 2017, from http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/11/11/pernod-ricard-wants-malibu-own-all-summer-drinks-and-has-picked-huge-push-the-plan

Best Sleep You Ever Had!?!

mccartl4 OCT Drugs, Sleeping Pills, Uncategorized , , , , ,

To sleep as if we were babies, a bear hibernating, or on a vacation on the beach, or like you hadn’t seen your bed in days, or even weeks, or if you were a parent and dropped the kids off at their grandparents house for the entire weekend, or simply just take zzz quill as that’s apparently the solution to getting the sleep we desperately need and want. The ad ensures that as a consumer you will sleep easily, soundly, and wake refreshed because sleep is a beautiful thing we need. I chose this ad because I can relate to losing sleep as many of us can and wishing for those ideas of sleeping like a baby or on a vacation somewhere on a beach but also because I have taken this product and definitely don’t feel like I got the best sleep of my life or woke up refreshed for the next day.

The company that produces ZzzQuil, is VICKS. VICKS slogan is that their legacy is about more than just cold and flu medicine. It’s about giving families the opportunity to continue life- even on sick days- for more than 100 years (VICKS History). VICKS is well known for it’s cold and flu medicine along with DayQuil and NyQuil. VICKS has been around since the late 1800’s when a pharmacist named Lunsford Richardson created and sold Croup and Pneumonia Salve under the VICKS name. In 2012, VICKS came out with a non habit forming sleep aid in ZzzQuil. ZzzQuil came out in warming berry liquid and liquid caps for those occasional sleepless nights. In 2015, Zzzquil came out with a new flavor in calming vanilla cherry and soothing mango berry.

VICKS has become a respected company for hundreds of years and they continue to have new products that come out for consumers. VICKS currently has out on the market is vapor rub, cough drops, cough syrup, nasal spray, NyQuil, NyQuil Severe, DayQuil, DayQuil Severe, and ZzzQuil.

The intended audience for VICKS products and more importantly ZzzQuil, is definitely hard working adults who could also be parents. With the many ads I’ve come across in magazines showed adults sleeping with some sort of saying such as “sleep like a rock” or “because sleep is a beautiful thing” and my favorite was a tweet post saying “SLEEP LIKE he finally proposed. And you have been dating for a decade. #SleepLike #engaged #shesaidyes” with a lady sleeping and a nice expensive ring on her finger. Magazines I’ve noticed these ads are in TIME, Glamour, Entrepreneur, Food Network, and VOGUE. All of these magazines are directed towards adults. All of these ads whether in the magazines or on a television commercial, they are reaching for people who are extremely tired and people who just need a break in life. I’ve noticed the commercials to run more so in the evening to night time which is tricky because people may be watching television when they can’t sleep and get the grand idea that they need to go and purchase this particular sleep aid.


The active ingredients in ZzzQuil is 50 milligrams of Diphenhydramine HCI. Diphenhydramine is a common ingredient in Benadryl which means the same drug that helps us with our sneezing and itching is also used for our disturbed sleep. However, ZzzQuil promotes that the drug is not habit forming and therefore not addictive per say. ZzzQuil offers a quick way to fall asleep and sleep a good seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. With that I would beg to differ in that it is habit forming and therefore addictive because if someone is having the same issue every night and can’t sleep and they revert to taking ZzzQuil each night, they now have created a habit and therefore addicted. I would assume until the individual got used to the drug that they gained a tolerance for it and could abuse the sleep aide. I noticed that on the bottle, you have to peel back to find how much an individual should take as it’s not in plain sight and the commercials never speak of side effects although it’s clearly stated on the bottle. Those who are breastfeeding or pregnant should not use the product and any children under twelve should keep away from the product. Also if an individual is already using a drug that contains Diphenhydramine, to not use the product.

The advertisement techniques used for ZzzQuil are very catchy. Playing a commercial in the evening time into the night more frequently then during the day time. The two advertisements I show above with showing adults sleeping with some sort of saying such as “sleep like a rock” or “because sleep is a beautiful thing” and the tweet post saying “SLEEP LIKE he finally proposed. And you have been dating for a decade. #SleepLike #engaged #shesaidyes” with a lady sleeping and a huge engagement ring. Most of the images are of people soundly sleeping, peaceful, and relaxed. The video above is also very deceptive as it shows you everything you wish for when you are sleep deprived from sleeping like a baby, or a bear, or on a vacation on the beach, or like you hadn’t seen your bed in weeks or even months, and relating those feelings to what ZzzQuil can do for you giving you that promise that the drug can give you those images of having the best sleep of your life. And the slogan of “because sleep is a beautiful thing,” ensures that why are you up fighting your sleep when you can just take this pill or amount of liquid to solve all of your sleepless nights.

 

Overall I would have to say that the drug does work and helps the occasional sleepless nights. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for chronic sleepless nights. I’ve tried it before, only because I was sold on the “non habit forming” bright lettering and I wanted to avoid Nyquil as I wasn’t ill. It definitely assisted in putting me to sleep, however, I didn’t feel like I slept like a baby, or like I hadn’t seen my bed in weeks or months. I honestly still felt a little tired when I woke up but was thankful I was able to get some sleep. With the article by Alena Hall on “The Truth About Over-The-Counter Sleep Aids” I liked what she had to say in that taking sleep aids occasionally are fine, however, she begs the point on “do we really need these?” As it may be okay to take on occasional nights where you have no idea why you can’t sleep and have a big meeting or project due the next day however, once it becomes a nightly or weekly problem that it may be time to check into an individuals daily habits before reverting to a chemical solution (Hall).  Eating a balanced meal, waking up at the same time every day, and setting a nightly regimen will help in going to sleep at a decent hour without the need of a sleeping aid. Therefore, I would recommend this drug only if someone had the occasional sleepless night but not a friend or family member who lacks sleep consistently. I wouldn’t want them to create a habit of taking it and potentially having a dependence on the drug to get adequate sleep.

References:

Diphenhydramine. (n.d.) Retrieved November 27, 2017, from http://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682539.html.

Hall, Alena. (2015) The Truth About Over-The-Counter Sleep Aids. Healthy Living. Retrieved November 27, 2017 from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/23/zzzquil-ingredients_n_6902780.html

Vicks History. (n.d). Retrieved November 27, 2017, from http://vicks.com/en-us/vicks-history.

Zzzquil Oral: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing. (n.d.) Retrieved November 27, 2017, from http://www/webmd/com/drugs/2/drug-161075/zzzquil-oral/detail.

What The Super Bowl Constipation Didn’t Say

crossk9 Opioids, Uncategorized

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AK0Ld1SR4w

By Katelyn Cross

https://www.thefix.com/sites/default/files/styles/article/public/movantik%20ad%20mr%20opioid.jpgIntroduction

Here is a photo of a women holding her “baggage” in which it is symbolic for her constipation symptoms. Next to her, is her solution—an opioid awaiting to “cure” her constipation and release her “baggage.” This is an ad aired by the NFL, portraying a cartoon advertisement of opioids—a prescription painkiller that is currently marked as an epidemic crisis throughout our country. I am interested in researching opioids because it is a common drug prescribed when going to the doctor, and is used in medical procedures through Anastasia as well as to release high amounts of pain as mentioned. The ad was released during the 2016 Super Bowl, and gave much offense to those who suffered from the opioid epidemic. The cartoon Disney-like opioid sits and mimics to be her best friend, and the one who will help her with her constipation problem.

History

The commercial was funded by a pharmaceutical research company called AstraZeneca, who specialize in various different research studies and topics, and work alongside scientists at “leading institutions to understand disease, identify potential new drugs and accelerate drug development” (Science In Our DNA n.d). It was also helped funded by Daiichi-Sanjyo, which is a global pharmaceutical company with corporate organs in Japan. The company aims to provide products and services in more than 20 countries around the world, “with more than 100 years of scientific expertise” they claim that their “company draws upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help patients” (Who We Are n.d). Ironic how companies who claim to raise awareness and improve the health and wellness of communities, are also contributing to dangerous epidemics.

Intended Audience

Not only are these companies contributing to funding to the opioid epidemic, but they are also spreading the access to the community. This ad was first aired during the Super Bowl of 2016. According to CNN, there was an average of “111.9 million  TV viewers” (Game, T 2016). This number is extremely large, and many who watch the Super Bowl also take part into watching through all the commercials, or going back on YouTube the next day to watch them. In the picture I chose to display from the video particularly, it is targeting people with constipation—this is a common issue that affects lots of Americans, and it is safe to say many would do whatever they could to get rid of this issue (or baggage I should say).  According to the article “Why Is The NFL Airing Ads Featuring A Cartoon Opioid Capsule” “Moreover, the cartoon take on the problem lessens the dangers of prescription painkillers by turning them into a Disney-like character. As opposed to Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., the Prescription, Inc., feeling of the commercial verges on the offensive” (Lavitt 2016). The feelings may be offensive to those who have suffered from opioids or know of people who have, but for those with little awareness, this commercial could be interpreted as cute and/or comical. Overall, I think the target audience is towards anyone who is watching. The general public is the open audience for the Super Bowl so the commercial was an aim towards any viewer, as well as people who specifically suffer with constipation, or get reeled in through animations, and advertisement techniques.

Active Ingredients

Opioids are painkillers wether in natural or synthetic form. They are commonly used in clinical practice and often prescribed as a way to cope with unbearable pain, and to assist during surgeries via Anastasia. According to the article “Basic opioid pharmacology: an update” “Morphine is commonly considered to be the archetypal opioid analgesic and the agent to which all other painkillers are compared” (Pathan and Williams 2016). Morphine is one of the most common opioids prescribed. The article further explains how there is evidence that suggests that the opium poppy, was cultivated for ingredients “as long ago as 3000 BC” (Pathan and Williams 2016). There is much to say about the poppy plant and many controversies raised from this. Morphine continued to be used widely and  “In 1847 the chemical formula for morphine was deduced and this, coupled with the invention of the hypodermic needle in 1853, led to the more precise and widespread clinical use of morphine” (Pathan and Williams 2016). There are many active components that play a part in Opioid usage. There are naturally occurring alkaloids where are plant-periled amines that can be derived from it such as “morphine, codeine, papaverine, and thebaine” (Pathan and Williams 2016). However, morphine is known as the active component of the opium poppy, and chemicals can be manipulated in labs to create synthetic opioids that can be used through widespread medicine clinically, such as “diamorphine, dihydrocodeine, buprenorphine, nalbuphine, naloxone and oxycodone” (Pathan and Williams 2016). The active opioid, heroin, was once seen as safe to be prescribed even to children, however, once known of its addictive pulled from the market, people started realizing its effect and danger. According to the article “Prescription Opioid Narcotics and Heroin”  “Today, OxyContin and Percocet are two of the frequently prescribed opioids used to treat pain. Both are narcotics containing the active ingredient oxycodone” (Prescription Opioid Narcotics and Heroin n.d.). This ingredient plays a part in the effects one feels when taking opioids. This ingredient is dangerous and influences physiological and mental health. The article, “What are Opiate Derivatives” states that, “According to Palomar College, opium belongs to a class of drugs known as narcotic analgesics” (What are Opiate Derivatives 2016). The drug ad did not mention any of these components, and in fact, left out every important thing about opioids that one should know. The ad was ultimately promoting opioids, making them look like the girls “best friend.” It showed no threat of addiction or any talk in what ingredients are in it, and this is very important to know. Instead, it should have taken the approach of “A pharmaceutical company just released this drug and these are the reasons you should not take it…” An approach to give reasonings towards preventing opioids would be the best because it would show people why they should avoid taking them and educate them on how they can be safe if a doctor were to prescribe.

Advertising Techniques

There was multiple advertisement techniques used in the commercial. Visual Imagery seemed to be the biggest as the animated opioid capsule was present as the woman’s best friend, comforting her through her constipation, and releasing her baggage, walking along side her throughout her time of discomfort. It also uses attention grabbers to show and make the opioid seem exciting, and being there for the woman the whole time, it aimed to keep peoples attention. It also uses statistics/facts to back up what is going on inside of the body, by showing the inside of someones stomach and having a physician demonstrate the affect and anatomy. This advertisement technique was aimed to give credibility. It also uses the power of words, such as labeling the women’s suitcase as “baggage” and the capsule “opioid” giving meaning to the objects and bringing them into context to real in viewers. It also uses lots of imagery throughout the video and even shows the woman and the capsule being painted of by an artist in a park. It also uses voice, to speak to the listener the whole time as the animation is occurring. All of these aspects play apart into reeling the viewer in and manipulating their mind through advertisement. Products and services have more credibility when backed up by facts, providing imagery to keep the audience interested, bringing objects “to life” as well as giving them meaning. The advertisement does not mention the negative affects of opioids or tries to make them seem bad, but instead, glorifies them in a way to make them look like the woman’s best friend.

Overall Opinion

My overall opinion on this drug is that it is very dangerous. If needed to take for medical purposes, such as surgery guidance via anesthesia, or strong pain killers to ease post surgery or other serious pain—one should be aware and educated of the risks involved, and the addiction that can take place if not taken under the supervision of a physician, or taken in larger quantities, or more frequently, than prescription ally recommended. According to the PBS article “CDC: Opioid painkillers shouldn’t be first choice for chronic pain” the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control states that ““Management of chronic pain is an art and a science. The science of opioids for chronic pain is clear — for the vast majority of patients, the known, serious, and too-often fatal risks far outweigh the unproven and transient benefits” (Silverman 2016). Specifically, the drugs well known negative effects and risks outweigh the little known positive benefits, at learn for long term. Overall, I would not recommend this drug to any family or friend, or anyone for that matter unless prescribed by a physician. In my opinion, opioids should not be anyones first choice to deal with pain, unless they ultimately have no other option. To put things in perspective on why Opioid drugs are an issue, The PBS article further states that, “Every day, more than 40 Americans die from overdoses of opioid painkillers, according to the CDC. And each year, 2 million people abuse or misuse the drugs” (Silverman 2016). Opioid addiction is a big problem and this explains the epidemic here in the United States—physicians are continuously prescribing patients and while sometimes this is needed, opioids should not be seen as a first choice, but instead a last.

Sources:

Game, T. (2016, February 8). Super Bowl 50 audience is third largest in TV history. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/08/media/super-bowl-50-ratings/index.html

Lavitt, John (2016, November 11). Why Is The NFL Airing Ads Featuring A Cartoon Opioid Capsule? Retrieved November 15, 2017, from https://www.thefix.com/why-nfl-airing-ads-featuring-cartoon-opioid-capsule

Pathan, H., & Williams, J. (2012, February). Basic opioid pharmacology: an update. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4590096/

Science in our DNA. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2017, from https://www.astrazeneca.com/our-science.html

Prescription Opioid Narcotics and Heroin. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2017, from http://www.rxreform.org/prescription-opioids/similarities-to-heroin/

Silverman, S. E. (2016, March 15). CDC: Opioid painkillers shouldn’t be first choice for chronic pain. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/cdc-opioid-painkillers-shouldnt-be-first-choice-for-chronic-pain

What are Opiate Derivatives? (2016, April 06). Retrieved November 15, 2017, from http://www.opium.org/what-are-opiate-derivatives.html

Who We Are. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2017, from http://www.daiichisankyo.com/about_us/who_we_are/index.html

The Secretive Sackler Family

peter310 Opioids , , ,

Our nation is in the midst of an opioid epidemic that is spiraling downwards and has been since Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin extended-release tablets in 1996. Although this advertisement is over 20 years old, I think it has a huge impact on our current crisis. I also chose to use a video that illustrates 5 people’s lives from 1998 when they started taking OxyContin to 2008 and how their lives have been affected. I chose to use this video because in 1998 Purdue Pharma used 7 people’s experiences with the drug  in a promotional video directed at physicians that claimed OxyContin had saved these people’s lives.

Purdue Pharma is a privately owned pharmaceutical company that was founded in 1892 by two doctors John Purdue and George Frederick Bingham. In 1952 the company was sold to the Sackler Family and is still owned by this family. Based off the information found on Purdue Pharma’s website, Purdue started out as a small struggling business selling products such as Uniphyl (oral theophylline) used for asthma control, but they are known for their development of pain management medication. In particular their production of OxyContin. In 1987, they launched MS contin, in 1991 Purdue Pharma became a Limited Partnership and in 1993 they established Partners Against Pain to educate people on unnecessary suffering of chronic pain. In 1996 OxyContin extended-release was launched after the FDA approved the medication in 1995.  According to Purdue’s ‘about’ section they state that, “We are committed to improving patients’ lives in meaningful ways by providing effective therapies along with educational tools that support their proper use.” (About Purdue, 2017) The company sells prescription and over-the-counter medicines (OTC) and they focus on six medical product categories. Their prescription medication includes prescription opioids and sleeping medication and their OTC drugs are laxatives, opioid induced constipation, antiseptics and dietary supplements. (For Healthcare Professionals. n.d.). This company has remained profitable over the years and currently has a net worth of $13 billion dollars. They are also recognized since 2015 as one of the richest families in America.

Based on my research, I assume the audience for this advertisement was most likely anyone over the age of 18 who was experiencing either chronic pain or cancer-related pain.  However, I also believe the video was directed at other physicians during 1996 to influence their mindset about OxyContin and in particular that it had ‘low risk of addiction’ and that it is the ‘best’ pain medication. By marketing the product directly to doctors it would greater influence them to prescribe the medication to patients in pain. Purdue used a strong marketing campaign to gain attention of consumers and continued to use bold marketing strategies until around 2011.  according to The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Purdue used marketing data to influence doctors to prescribe. They compiled data from doctors nationwide to show prescribing patterns. With this information, Purdue was able to identify which doctors prescribed opioids most frequently but it also showed areas with large chronic-pain patients. This marketing campaign allowed Purdue to target individuals who were suffering chronic-pain. Also, in the video involving 7 individuals ‘then and now’, it shows Purdue’s efforts to market this pain medication to doctors. (Zee, A. V. (2009, February)

OxyContin also known as Oxy or Oxycotton comes in forms of 10mg, 15mg, 20mg, 30mg, 40mg, 60mg, and 80mg and are supposed to taken orally. When used properly, it can help relieve pain associated with cancer and chronic pain. However, this drug is commonly misused and oftentimes abused, in which it is crushed and snorted or mixed with water and injected. If OxyContin is consumed in either of these ways it eliminates the ‘time-release’ factor and it allows the drug to rush directly into the body. According to the Rxlist website, the active ingredient found in OxyContin is Oxycodone, which “is a white, odorless crystalline powder derived from the opium alkaloid, thebaine.” (OxyContin: Side Effects, Interactions, Warning, Dosage & Uses. n.d.) The inactive ingredients found are butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), hypromellose, polyethylene glycol 400, polyethylene oxide, magnesium stearate and titanium dioxide. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, of the six opium alkaloids “Thebaine is the most poisonous opium alkaloid and is scarcely used medically.” (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. n.d.) Thebaine is 10 times stronger than morphine and is roughly 10 times as lethal, high doses can result in convulsions and psychological and physical dependence. (Thebaine. n.d.) This advertisement does not tell consumers that OxyContin is highly addictive, or that it is expensive and not all health insurance plans cover it, it does not inform consumers of what happens when they stop taking the drug or how to ween yourself off the painkillers. Overall, they do not inform the audience of any negative effects or attributes that come along with the use of OxyContin. According the the investigation and research done by the LA times, if there are gaps between pills, people can experience body aches, nausea and other withdrawal symptoms. (‘You want a description of hell?’ OxyContin’s 12-hour problem n.d.)

As stated by the World Health Organization, direct-to-consumer advertising has been legal since 1985, it was not until 1997 that these advertisements started to bombard society. Direct-to-consumer advertising under fire. n.d.) According to Hanson, G. R., Venturelli, P. J., & Fleckenstein, A. E. (2015), the total spending on advertisement increased from $11.4 billion to $29.9 billion from 1996 to 2005. (Page 110) In the Purdue advertisement provided, Alan Spanos M.D. claims that the risk of addiction among patients treated for pain is less than 1%, and continues to claim that this Oxycontin should be used much more often because it is the best, strongest pain medication. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Opioids (prescription, heroin and fentanyl) accounted for more than 33,000 deaths in 2015, they also claim that around half of opioid overdoses are from prescriptions. (Opioid Overdose. (2017, October 23). Based off the press release in 1996 following the launch of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma claimed that “OxyContin Tablets are taken every 12 hours, providing smooth and sustained pain control all day and all night.” (OxyContin Press Release, 1996.) In 2016, The LA Times investigated Purdue Pharma and found that, before OxyContin went into market, clinical trials showed that many people were not feeling relief for 12 hours as it claimed. Purdue strives to remain profitable and without their 12 hour relief claim, they have very little competitive advantage over other painkillers. Despite the fact that the higher the potency the higher the risk, the company continues to market this product as a 12-hour relief, instead of offering lower doses more frequently. Theodore J. Cicero, a neuropharmacologist, says that OxyContin 12-hour interval has potential to be the “perfect recipe for addiction”.  (‘You want a description of hell?’ OxyContin’s 12-hour problem n.d.) The fact that there is evidence showing Purdue Pharma was aware that their pills did not extend a full 12 hours and still marketed them at this shows they were concerned with the well being of the patients but rather concerned with the money they would make. The lives of the 5 individuals from the ‘then and now’ video all vary, however their lives have all significantly changed because of their use of OxyContin. Johnny Sullivan originally took OxyContin for chronic back pain, but his addiction grew too big and he ended up falling asleep at the wheel and dying. His wife Mary Lou discusses that she essentially had to look after Johnny as she would a 2 or 3 year old because he was so out of it from taking the OxyContin. Lauren says she ‘would never again’ take OxyContin. Ira Pitchal took OxyContin for fibromyalgia and claimed it helped him workout. However, a few years after Ira at 62 years old was found dead and his cause of death was due to high blood pressure and heart disease but the police report also claims he was abusing narcotics. Most of the individuals had negative results in the long term from the use of OxyContin. Susan on the other hand, who has suffered rheumatoid arthritis since 25 feel that because the drug is so often misused and abused that she, someone with a lot of real chronic pain is the one who will suffer from the opioid problems if they are prohibited from sale.

Overall, I would not recommend that anyone of my friends or family members take OxyContin. I think there are healthier alternatives for pain relief among chronic-pain patients such as using electric shock methods such as TENS units, accupuncture, physical therapy, exercise and stretching, or even the use of CBD products, derived from the cannabis plant,  in replace of painkillers. However, in the circumstance of last resort, I would not rule out OxyContin as an option for someone who desperately needed pain-relief, as long as it was a low dosage for a very short period of time. Opioids free you from the unbearable but slowly increase your body’s resistance to the drug which results in the need of higher doses. The longer they are used, the higher the dose needed which leads to an increased chance of addiction. The rate of addiction and overdose continue to rise as do the prescriptions. After any surgery or major pain related incident, doctors are always first to prescribe pain medication that may or may not be needed for the existing situation. Doctors are known for prescribing pain medication so now patients almost expect to receive some sort of pain medication. In the early years of Purdue’s OxyContin sales, they offered ‘free one-time OxyContin prescriptions to doctors that they would then give to patients and 34,000 were redeemed. Many people became addicted to Opioids and when they were unable to afford it or get a prescription for it, some of them turned to synthetic forms such as heroin. It has become so easy to acquire pain medication because there is no true measure of pain in the doctor’s office. The definition of pain is all relative to the individual and it is easy to lie about the severity of pain one is feeling. When in the hands of addicts, they will take something just to get high, and the only way to prevent these drugs from getting in their hands is to tighten the protocol and not make them so easily accessible. This has become a public-health crisis that is all across America and the Sackler family is sitting pretty making billions of dollars off people’s addiction and death.

 

Citations

About Purdue. (2017). Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://www.purduepharma.com/about/

Direct-to-consumer advertising under fire. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2017, from http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/8/09-040809/en

For Healthcare Professionals. (n.d.). Retrieved November, 2017, from http://www.purduepharma.com/healthcare-professionals/products/

Hanson, G. R., Venturelli, P. J., & Fleckenstein, A. E. (2015). Drugs and Society. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Opioid Overdose. (2017, October 23). Retrieved November 13, 2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/index.html

OxyContin Press Release, 1996. Retrieved November 9, 2017, from http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2815975-Pressreleaseversionone.html

Oxycontin: Side Effects, Interactions, Warning, Dosage & Uses. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2017, from https://www.rxlist.com/oxycontin-drug.htm
“OxyContin Patients, Then and Now.” YouTube, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8 Sept. 2012, https://youtu.be/pkeQifzvSNE

“Purdue Pharma OxyContin Commercial.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Sept. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er78Dj5hyeI.

Thebaine. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2017, from http://www.eopiates.com/thebaine/

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2017, from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1953-01-01_3_page015.html

‘You want a description of hell?’ OxyContin’s 12-hour problem (n.d.). Retrieved November 6, 2017, from http://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-part1/

Zee, A. V. (2009, February). The Promotion and Marketing of OxyContin: Commercial Triumph, Public Health Tragedy. Retrieved November 8, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2622774/

Opioid Outbreak

mallull Opioids , , , ,

Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others. (DA.gov) Opioids are commonly used as pain relievers and are most commonly prescribed post surgery, significant injury or use in cancer treatment.  Opioids have become extremely common in our society; this has led to companies not needing to advertise opioids today because they are already widely known and used.  However, in the early 2000’s with the recent release of OxyContin, ads were prominently aired on TV and found in magazines.  This is one ad that aired in 1998 for OxyContin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er78Dj5hyeI

It is clearly portrayed throughout the ad that OxyContin is the “best” drugs on the market. They quickly debunk the idea that opioids are addictive by saying only 1% of users become addicted to the drugs they are prescribed.  This is blatantly a lie and misdirection of the issues at hand with opioid epidemic in America just taking off at the time.  This is shown throughout the extensive number of people who became addicted and who abuse opioids after they are finished with their prescribed dosages.  This is the reason I chose to take a closer look at opioids, their addictive potential alone warrants a deeper investigation.  Also, I picked this ad in specific because of the harm that these ads caused the American people by exacerbating the epidemic.

The company that is makes and markets OxyContin is Perdue Pharma, they are a private pharmaceutical company which first started over 60 years ago.  With their global partners they produce, develop, and research prescription and over the counter drugs.  Purdue Pharma is a well established company in the healthcare industry and continues to develop new pharmaceuticals to this day as a leader in their industry.  Their mission, as stated on their website, is “Purdue Pharma, a private company founded by physicians, is committed to advancing the medical care of patients with quality pharmaceutical products. We are known for our pioneering research in pain, a principal cause of human suffering. Today, we work with new partners on innovative healthcare solutions in many therapeutic areas.”  Purdue Pharma seems like a well established company with good intentions for its consumers.  However, they lied about the addiction potential in their ad blurring the line if their mission is genuine.

OxyContin, in this ad, is being mass marketed through T.V. to an audience of chronic pain sufferers and anyone seeking relief of existing pains.  They mainly market to anyone who has undergone a major surgery, are undergoing cancer treatment, or have chronic pain.  They use an M.D., Alan Spanos, to make the statements seem more valid and much more believable.  They keep the ad formal and don’t show anyone or anything besides Spanos, this formal style helps Spanos seem credible. It doesn’t distract from Spanos so the center of attention is always on him, he is their clear selling point.  Also, in the ad Spanos discredits the addictive potential of OxyContin; although we know it’s blatantly not true, because he’s an M.D. we are led on to trust him and automatically believe what he says. They trick the viewer through a simple argumentum ad verecundiam which lets them avoid facts and statistics and still be perceived well by the general audience.

OxyContin is composed of some fillers depending on dose but the main active ingredient in it is Oxycodone. Oxycodone is a semi synthetic opioid derived from poppies, mainly the Persian poppy.  Oxycodone, like many opioids, causes an uplifted and euphoric effect as well as providing a numbing feeling to the entire body.  In addition, oxycodone has an extremely high potential for abuse and is one of the most abused drugs in the opioid epidemic.  The American Society of

Addiction Medicine (AMSA) posted an article in 2016 saying “Of the 20.5 million Americans 12 or older that had a substance use disorder in 2015, 2 million had a substance use disorder involving prescription pain relievers and 591,000 had a substance use disorder involving heroin.”  Clearly more than 1% of users get addicted to OxyContin; furthermore, oxycodone acts as a gateway drug and many users seek a fix after their prescriptions end. Often thes users turn to heroin because it’s cheaper, more potent, and provides a similar effect.  Although these figures are new statistics, it was significantly easier to get OxyContin at the time and its potency hasn’t changed since then, making it just as addictive then as it is now.  Therefore this was a clear misdirection by Perdue to make sure they still made sales on OxyContin no matter the risk.  With the opioid epidemic taking over in America

it’s clear to see why it erupted in the first place.  Easy access to OxyContin and drugs like it at the time as well as advertising making these drugs seem nearly harmless led to an overall great perception of these opioids.  This normalized what society thought of the drugs and quickly made it acceptable to be on these opioids and inevitably led to over use and addiction to opioids. It seems almost asinine to warp statistics like Perdue did, especially when they are so highly esteemed considering it has led to ruining so many lives.  After misinforming their viewers on OxyContins extremely high addictive potential, Spanos goes on about how OxyContin is the “best” drug on the market for pain relief.  He glorifies the drug an make it seem like a super cure to every issue, Spanos makes s

ure to emphasize that it’s the best drug more than once throughout the ad.  Likewise, he increases his volume and tone when saying “best” to ensure that the audience understands how great OxyContin is.

After looking into OxyContin and oxycodone extensively it’s hard to understand what extent of pain someone would need to be in to need this drug.  With the current opioid epidemic at hand it seems like a poor choice for someone to use OxyContin or any related drug at all.  Due to a lack of public education as

well I believe that these opioids are still well received by the general populous. However, I do have personal experience with OxyContin because my twin was prescribed it and I witnessed firsthand its effects.  He tore his PCL and had to have surgery to fix it, after the surgery he was prescribed OxyContin and Hydrocodone, a slightly less potent semi-synthetic opioid.  He was in an excruciating amount of pain after and was confined to a recliner for over a month. The Oxy and Hydros were extremely effective in managing his pain; however, they also did get him somewhat high.  This was apparent through his speech and general attitude.  After about a month of using them to manage his pain he decided under his own fruition that he wanted to stop taking them.  Although they helped him cope we could tell he was becoming addicted.  He began to have trouble sleeping when not on them, not due to pain, and also began to crave them most of the time he wasn’t on them and even rarely when he was at the end of his dose.  After stopping taking them he began to go through withdrawals, he was constantly craving them for the first two weeks off and immediately became irritable.  Also, he continued to struggle with insomnia due to the withdrawal, when he did get sleep he would have night sweats.  It was difficult seeing my brother go through this and it was clear that they were both extremely addictive drugs.  Even though my brother stopped taking his prescription early, in about half the time he was prescribed, he still struggled with withdrawal.  Clearly these opioids have an extremely high potential for addiction.  I think it’s imperative that people understand the consequences that can occur from taking any form of opioid.

I generally wouldn’t recommend OxyContin or any derivative of it to anyone I knew.  Being such a powerful drug the use of it would come down to how much pain the person was in.  With such a high addictive potential I would only recommend an opioid to someone who was in an extreme amount of pain and needed something to cope.  I believe that there is an array other options for pain relief before an opioid should be used.  Any opioid has high abuse potential and is a double edged sword, it’s crucial to be educated and aware about drug use so be careful when taking any form of opioid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er78Dj5hyeI

Abuse, N. I. (n.d.). Opioids. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids

Addiction Medicine, A. O. (2016). Opioid Addiction 2016 Facts and Figures. Retrieved November 05, 2017, from https://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf

Yes or No, Tobacco?

meyerde Uncategorized

Drug Advertisement Debunk

I choose to focus on tobacco because it is one of the most heavily used and normalized drugs in society. It effects almost every individual whether they are the smoker themselves or they have family or friends that use this drug. Its prevalence in society throughout history also influenced my decision to study this drug. Tobacco has been used for hundreds of years and its presence has impacted society heavily. I choose this ad in particular because I think it highlights key techniques companies use to manipulate consumers. The ad illustrates these techniques through text and imagery, both of which are extremely important to analyze. It is important to think critically whenever you are presented with material created for consumer viewing, practices of debunking drug ads are applicable to other media you are presented with every day. Who is the target audience? How do you relate to the target audience? What is the intention of this ad? How does it make you feel, is this a logical or emotional response? How reliable is the information? I will discuss all of these questions and much more using this ad as an example.

This ad was run in 1952 by Liggett and Myers the makers of Chesterfield cigarettes. Liggett and Meyers was established in 1873 and dominated the market for chewing tobacco until it moved into cigarette production a few decades later. During this time in history, tobacco advertisements in the US has a strong relationship with Hollywood, and Liggett and Myers was no exception. The main sources of information at this time was the newspaper, print was also the way companies reached consumers. Hollywood celebrities therefore were very influential because they held the greatest social status next to politicians, as they had the greatest social reach. Liggett and Myers knew this and acquired many endorsers such as Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, and Claudette Colbert. In the mid nineteen hundreds Chesterfield cigarettes had the most celebrity endorsers of all tobacco companies. In 1929 the Federal Trade Association released an order that prohibited the scripting of endorsers. However, this did not stop the use of endorsers in the ads created by the tobacco industry.  In the early nineteen there was no social media influence, or television, even radio didn’t come into households until around the twenties. Stanton Glantz explained it clearly he once said, “It (celebrity tobacco endorsement) was a way to thoroughly embed tobacco use in the social fabric.” Liggett and Myers were well established in the tobacco industry and used tailored tactics to manipulate the public perception of tobacco use and to persuade consumers to buy their product. In the advertisement above young Ronald Regan promotes Chesterfield cigarettes during the peak of his career in acting. Chesterfield cigarettes was well established and relied on distinctive branding and packaging to distinguish itself from other companies. Chesterfield was strategic in its advertising and use of endorsers making it a very successful company. They were also one of the first companies to target women in their tobacco advertising, making their product acceptable to a wider market. This company was very professional and knew how to swing the market in their favor.

In this specific advertisement the audience is all readers of the print newspapers, however I would argue Liggett and Myers target audience is individuals who celebrate Christmas. They’re selling the spirit and prestige of smoking this limited edition packaging. Christmas marketed as a happy time for gift giving and cheer. The advertisement explicitly says “I’m sending Chesterfields to all my friends. That’s the merriest Christmas any smoker can have.” This is telling the consumer that being a good friend can be as simple as getting them a gift of quality cigarettes. Ronald Regan is featured in the center of the advertisement and is endorsing the product. He is smiling and smoking, surrounded by packages of Chesterfield cigarettes. He is addressing these packages to his friends. This is telling the consumer that he has many friends, this is desirable and by association so is the product. Ronald was a celebrity at this time, due to his career in acting. Therefor Liggett and Myers is also selling the prestige associated with him. The product is linked to luxury and status, which all consumers crave. They are also selling a limited edition package; this adds a rush to consumption. The box is large and featured next to Regan, its opened suggesting accessibility. The notion is that you have to purchase this product now or you will never have it. This gives the consumer less decision making time and they are there for less likely to analyze possible negative outcomes. The imagery is also enhanced by the colors used. The palette is warm, featuring red, greens and creams. The tone of these colors is inviting and comforting. The image shows an ideal Christmas setting, addressing gifts to many friends, surrounded by beautiful décor, fitted in formal clothing. They are selling the ease of this lifestyle Regan is pictured in and that is associated with Chesterfield cigarettes therefor consumers are likely to strive for this lifestyle by purchasing this product.

The dangers of tobacco are not at all mentioned in this advertisement, but those dangers are real and relevant. Tobacco contains nicotine which is a very addictive compound. This means that consumers who start using this product usually have a hard time quitting. This means that companies are focused on getting consumers hooked on the product and the addictive nature will keep them buying the product. This is an issue for consumers because not only is this a potential financial strain but it is also known that tobacco has detrimental long term health effects on the human body. Tobacco contains hundreds of harmful chemicals, many of which consumers are uninformed about when buying the product. For example, sixty-nine of these chemicals are cancer causing agents. Other risks of smoking regularly include developing gum disease, lung damage, early signs of age. Tobacco use is the largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. This is a staggering statistic and attention to these negative health effects should be duly noted. Not only is tobacco a problem for the individual who is consuming it, but when consumed via smoking it becomes a problem for everyone around them.  Second hand smoking can still cause many of the harmful effects of smoking. This is an issue primarily within families as an estimated fifty-four percent of children are exposed to second hand smoke each year. This is an issue for obvious health reasons but it also normalizes this drug, making it more likely that future generations will continue to use it.

In my opinion the consumption of tobacco in our society is extremely detrimental. It is normalized, glamorized and the gravity of harmful side effects are not touched on enough. In the nineteen seventies the last tobacco advertisements aired on television because of increased government regulations. However, the new wave of tobacco use in the form of electronic cigarettes has not been fully regulated. E-cigs offer accessibility and variety to smoking tobacco. They come in a range of styles, flavors, and concentrations of tobacco. The promotion of these E-cigs is primarily through social media influence, and online advertisements. Instead of relying on celebrity endorsements tobacco consumption is put on a peer to peer level. It isn’t uncommon to see snapchats of people smoking, and doing smoke tricks, or to be offered to smoke at a party. Many people claim to only smoke when they are drinking and it’s a selective and controlled event. However, these people are ignoring the harmful side effects of using at all, as well as the addictive effects of the nicotine in the E-Cigs. From studying this specific advertisement by Liggett and Myer and through my research of tobacco advertisements over the last hundred years in the United States it is clear to me that tobacco companies have developed highly effective and detailed strategies to attract and ensure that consumers repeatedly buy their product. For example, in this specific advertisement they’ve show professional use endorsers, associations to success and luxury, and limited supply, and these are just a few. Other tactics include weasel words, attention grabbers, and statistics. I would never recommend this product to my family or friends. However, I would recommend that as a society we use critical thinking skills every time we are going to make a purchase, and to do thorough research on the products so you can make an informed decision.

 

Citations:

(2017, January) Before Becoming President Ronald Reagan Was a Paid Cigarette Model. http://forgottenhistoryblog.com/before-becoming-president-ronald-reagan-was-a-paid-cigarette-model/

 

Doyle, J. (2010, January 31) Al Jolson & Luckies.

http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/gary-cooper-and-chesterfield-cigarettes/

 

Hood, J. (2013, June 6) It’s Not a Mad Men episode: Cigarette ads return to TV

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/its-not-a-mad-men-episode-cigarette-ads-return-to-tv-060613.html

 

(2003, September 15) Liggett and Myers Tobacco Co.

http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/liggett-myers-tobacco/98750/

 

(2017, November 6) Risks of Tobacco

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002032.htm

(2017, January) Tobacco Facts and Figures

https://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/about-tobacco/facts-figures/index.html

 

Lawrence, L. (2009, March 10) Cigarettes Were Once ‘Physician’ Tested, Approved

https://www.healio.com/hematology-oncology/news/print/hemonc-today/%7B241d62a7-fe6e-4c5b-9fed-a33cc6e4bd7c%7D/cigarettes-were-once-physician-tested-approved

 

(2017, June 20) Burden of Tobacco Use in the U.S.

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/resources/data/cigarette-smoking-in-united-states.html