Healthy Skepticism Library item: 901

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Burnside S.
Would you run `Julie' ad campaign?
The Toronto Star 2005 Mar 19

Full text:

The “Julie’s story” multi-media advertising campaign continues to generate stories of its own.

The Star recently published three variations of the ad. The advertiser wanted placement beside a food feature.

In the first, Julie is floating in gently rippling water: “Last vacation was the first time I ever dared to wear a bikini!”

The camera moves in for the second shot. Julie is in front of a mirror:
“Just for kicks, I tried on my wedding dress. It fit perfectly!”

Then, last Sunday, a close-up. Just Julie’s trim thigh, black lace garter belt and stocking tops. “Last night, I did a striptease for my husband.”

This ad sent reader April Cameron to the phone. “This ad is demeaning,”
she said. “I’m surprised the Star would allow it.”

She was offended by both the “stripper” image and the weight-loss message. The Star usually is respectful of women, she said. “I am just so angry.”

The ads ask: “What would you do with a few pounds less?”

The ads advise: “Ask your doctor about Julie’s story. Medical treatment options available.”

The dislocating thing about them is that you can’t figure out what is being advertised or who is paying to advertise it.

That is because the Canadian Food and Drugs Act does not allow drug companies to advertise prescription drugs directly to consumers.

However, Health Canada does allow reminder ads, which name the drug but not the disease, and help-seeking ads, which name the disease but not the drug. Julie’s story is in the help-seeking category.

That which cannot be named is the drug Xenical (also known as Orlistat).
The drug company Hoffman-LaRoche Ltd. paid for the ads.

Once you know that, the plot can be analyzed and the clues placed in context. Does Julie’s story makes sense?

“What would you do with a few pounds less?”

Funny you should ask.

Xenical is an obesity drug. It can also be used by “overweight” people with a variety of other medical conditions. It would not be prescribed for anyone wanting to weigh “a few pounds less.”

If you take the drug, you are supposed to be on a reduced-calorie diet with a strict fat limit.

If you don’t play by the rules, the Xenical website says side effects can include “gas with oily discharge, an increased number of bowel movements, an urgent need to have them, and an inability to control them, particularly after meals containing higher amounts of fat than are recommended.”

That’s a story worth knowing.

Current rules for prescription drug ads “treat Canadians as if they need to be coddled,” says Star publisher Michael Goldbloom. He would like the law changed to allow this advertising, within strict guidelines, and he believes informed readers are discerning enough to make sensible decisions.

The newspaper industry also wants access to the millions of dollars drug companies spend marketing their products. Some traditional sources of newspaper advertising have eroded over the years and this would be a welcome source of new revenue.

But that route has perils, too – a debate for another time.

The Star’s director of advertising Mark Spencer said Julie’s story was part of a wider media campaign. And the department made sure the rules about drug advertising were enforced. “We knew it was a weight-loss drug.”

Spencer says ads published in the Star must meet three standards: The content must be legal; the advertiser can’t misrepresent the product, and “we want to assure it’s not offensive.”

“That’s the tougher one, offensive to whom.”

A case-by-case judgment is made and one of the barometers is community response. There has been only one call about this ad.

Because the ads didn’t mention Xenical, no one researched the drug specifically.

What if there was a request to rerun the campaign?

Spencer says there would be a discussion with the client to make sure the ad’s message was directed to the intended audience.

We would like your view: Would you republish the Julie’s story ad campaign?

To answer the question, please go to thestar.com/publiced and look for “Question of the Week” on the right side of the page.