With apologies to John Lennon:
Imagine there’s no DTC
It’s easy if you try
No bellowing at us
From airwaves in the sky
Imagine all the marketers
Out of work that very day
Imagine there’s no FDA
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to regulate or get pharma money for
And no warning letters too
Imagine all the marketers
Allowing us to live in peace
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And Kennedy, Enzi, and Waxman will be as one
Imagine no Nightly News interruptions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or ROI
A respite from every drug ad man
Imagine all the marketers
Roaming aimlessly around the world
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world without DTC will live as one
———————
Obviously, the DTC marketers, advertisers, and supporting publications are running scared. The AAAA and other members of the Advertising Coalition — those who profit the most from DTC next to the pharmaceutical industry itself — are working hard to remove any moratorium on DTC advertising from the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (S. 1082) that was introduced by Senators Ted Kennedy and Mike Enzi and recently passed by the Senate (see “The Advertising Coalition Calls for Campaign Against Kennedy-Enzi drug-safety bill“).
It’s no longer an issue of patient safety for many of these people — it’s their livelihoods! What would they do for 2 whole years without DTC ads to create? They’d have to find something else to do. In other words, they’d have to be more CREATIVE!
Imagine a world (actually, a USA) without DTC advertising. We’d have to learn a thing or two from how drug companies do things in Europe (heaven forbid!).
Instead of or in addition to circling the wagons and expending enormous amounts pf money, time, and energy lobbying and opposing the drug safety bill, the Advertising Coalition should think of non-DTC promotional opportunities that they can offer their pharmaceutical clients.
I wonder if they can.
