I am now prepared to join the AMA who has called for a ban on direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs ... the recent Rhinocort ad being the final straw.
I've always been a bit suspicious of this practice, and I can't imagine the poor doctors who now have to deal with patients who have diagnosed themselves with the worst condition possible via the web after clicking through google images and internet search results and who come in to "consult" with their physician to get the latest medication sold via cutesy cartoons (I'm looking at you, cartoon bladder). I know full well that the viagra commercials that boast how "you should see a doctor if your erection lasts for more than four hours" is a clever marketing ploy disguised as a side effect disclosure (but seriously, do get yourself to a hospital if you're still going strong at minute 241, 'cause extended priapism is more than just a hipster stripper name [assuming hipsters strip]).
My ire was raised recently when I saw the revisionist history that was being done to the Three Little Pigs story (even more shocking than what those Lost creators are doing to Disney's fairy tales on ABC's 'Once Upon a Time' every Sunday), and how the big bad wolf was being encouraged to take enhancement performance drugs in order to huff and puff better. I think that very unfair for the pigs, and think that they should be given an edge to match that of the the Wolf-on-Symbicort ... like maybe partnering them with some savvy Doomsday preppers who can upgrade the various abodes of the little piggies to withstand any matter of apocalyptic attack. [Conflict of interest disclosure: the more piggies saved from the big bad wolf equals more bacon for me.]
Even when a drug ad tries to do something right, like promote diversity, they are failing by being overly transparent in a mixed up mashed up mess. Exhibit A: the Xarelto ads that have Kevin Nealon, Chris Bosh, Brian Vickers and Arnold Palmer stiffly speaking about the wonders of blood properly thinned. I'm guessing there are studies out there somewhere that show that the classifications of people most in need of this medication are potheads, blacks, rednecks and seniors (in no particular order other than the listing of names earlier in this paragraph) ... but I couldn't imagine a more unlikely foursome at golf than if Obama were invited to play a round with the current batch of Republican presidential candidates.
But back to the last straw I mentioned at the beginning. That would have to be the Rhinocort ad in current circulation with the dad who takes the waffles directly from the toaster and applies them to his face to combat his sinus issues. NO! In *no* world would that be acceptable behavior. Rubbing your face with the food about to be fed to your family is the activity of a sociopath who likely ties up kitty cats by their tails and throws them over clotheslines. It is not cutesy. It is not an "aw schucks, there goes Dad" family moment. It is something for which immediate institutionalization is warranted. A well administered sinus medication will not change the psychosis present in that individual.
Bottom line ... I can't take another drug ad. Please, let's banish them from public consumption. For my own sanity. Pretty please. Pretty please with a Xanax on top.
PERFORMANCE ENHANCED BIG BAD WOLF:
http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7CM2/symbicort-wolf
A POTHEAD, A BLACK GUY, A REDNECK and A SENIOR:
http://heatzone.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2015/10/29/bosh-golfs-with-arnold-palmer-kevin-nealon-brian-vickers-in-xarelto-commercial/
THE LAST STRAW ... NO! NO!! NO!!!:
http://www.ispot.tv/ad/AOhP/rhinocort-allergy-spray-morning-confusion
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