Advertising

Celebrity Shills for Pills and Other DTC Concerns

by Diane Farsetta — October 4, 2005 - 1:54pm

The Food and Drug Administration will hold a public hearing on direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising, "more than two years after the last public hearing ... failed to produce any guidelines to regulate the $4 billion ad category," notes AdAge.

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Advertising Age, October 3, 2005

And Now, a Hidden Word from Our Sponsor

by Diane Farsetta — September 30, 2005 - 2:19pm

The Wall Street Journal reports that Subway Restaurants "launched a new sandwich last night by having it written into the story line of NBC's 'Will & Grace'." Such advertising is increasingly spreading beyond television and movies, and into magazines and newspapers.

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Christian Science Monitor, September 29, 2005

A Spoonful of PR Helps the Medicine Get Buzz

by Diane Farsetta — September 26, 2005 - 1:12pm

After the industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) issued a voluntary code of conduct for direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising, drug companies "are hoping to skirt the issue" by "getting more executives and experts quoted in major newspapers and magazines and sitting across from

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Advertising Age, September 26, 2005

This'll Make You Gasp

by Diane Farsetta — September 26, 2005 - 11:42am

"Philip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro ... created a crack team to transform the insides of Britain's upmarket bars and music events, in an attempt to boost its profits," reports The Observer. Marketing documents from 2004 that the newspaper obtained detail how Philip Morris offers gift certificates to bar owners for displaying furniture, ashtrays or vending machines with Marlboro's logo.

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The Observer (UK), September 25, 2005

California's Indecent Propositions

by Diane Farsetta — September 16, 2005 - 1:52pm

California's November 8 elections on "several controversial propositions" dealing with state redistricting, the school system, budget and drug prices "could be one of the biggest political scrapes of the year, involving $125 million in ad spending," reports Advertising Age.

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Advertising Age, September 12, 2005

Pay-for-Plate

by Diane Farsetta — September 14, 2005 - 2:38pm

The San Francisco Examiner and Independent "agreed Friday to label as advertising a regular restaurant news column the newspapers had used to reward advertisers and solicit ads from eating establishments." Previously, ad salesperson George Habit had written food columns identified only as "special to the Examiner" or "Independent Newspapers." Habit admitted, "I use the column as an initiative

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Grade the News, September 13, 2005

Tuning in to the Void

by Diane Farsetta — October 3, 2004 - 11:00pm

The Wisconsin Advertising Project estimates that "many voters - nearly 60 percent - have not been exposed to any of the 530,000 campaign ads aired so far in the most expensive presidential campaign ever." A companion project researching local TV news "found only 44 percent of local stations offer[ed] any campaign coverage at all in the 2002 elections.

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New York Times, October 4, 2004

Drug Ads Just Got Harder to Swallow

by Diane Farsetta — September 30, 2004 - 11:00pm

"Pharmaceutical advertising has exploded over the past decade to become the 10th-largest advertising category in the U.S. ... Last year, expenditures for prescription-drug ads jumped 24% to $3.21 billion." After Merck recalled its arthritis and pain medicine Vioxx, direct-to-consumer drug advertising is facing renewed scrutiny.

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Wall Street Journal (reg. req'd.), October 1, 2004

The Additive Effect of Ad Agencies

by Diane Farsetta — September 13, 2004 - 11:00pm

"WPP Group's agreement to buy Grey Global Group solidifies ad industry power in the hands of four big firms," reports the Wall Street Journal. "The takeover also will give WPP access to Grey's long relationships with such clients as Procter & Gamble, one of the world's biggest advertising spenders. ... During the past decade, ad holding companies rushed to gobble up agencies to serve more clients. ...

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Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2004

Marketplace of Campaign Ideas

by Diane Farsetta — September 9, 2004 - 11:00pm

"If you're some group with an agenda, an ax to grind or an issue to promote, now's the time," said the Campaign Media Analysis Group's president. "Political advertising by smaller groups, and individuals in some cases, is popping up across the country," reports Associated Press, "on top of the millions of dollars that larger, partisan groups have spent" on ads.

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Associated Press, September 10, 2004
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