Month: December 2017

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