Marketing

Mediaweek reports that new voluntary guidelines issued by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) on Direct-to-consumer advertising "contain few requirements that will add to marketers' ethical and legal burdens in creating drug ads." The guidelines, it reports "do little to go beyond a press release PhRMA issued on July 21, which merely 'encourage

Within 24 hours of George Bush's announcement of his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Progress for America, a group with close ties to the White House, had an ad supporting John Roberts ready to roll. The 30-second spot, entitled "Brilliant," is airing on current affairs cable channels and during Sunday morning talk shows. "The ad's argument is that Roberts is not out of the mainstream and doesn't rise to the level of an extraordinary circumstance," the Associated Press reports.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist called drug ads "fuel to America's skyrocketing drug costs" and asked companies to wait two years before advertising new drugs. Bristol-Myers Squibb set its own one-year moratorium on new drug ads.

"Hoping to improve its image and boost sagging membership, the American Medical Association is launching a $60 million marketing campaign that includes heartstring-tugging ads that portray doctors as 'everyday heroes.'" The ads, which will be run nationally on television and radio and in magazines, "emphasize the nobility of the profession," explained an AMA marketing executive.