I do not understand most medical advertising. When I watch TV and there are ads for things that aren't even wrong with me, they usually just gross me out. And even if they are for something that is wrong with me or might appeal with me, I always default to my doctor's opinion first and ask questions in the appropriate setting. I try not to find my solutions to health problems anywhere other than a doctor's office. Regardless of how I behave, these ads must have an appeal or they wouldn't use them- assuming these companies are smart enough to be doing ROI analysis and if they aren't they should give us a call!
That being said, I can give them some credit for marketing based on known demographics and it is pretty obvious that they do. If I remember correctly, when I signed up for Pandora I created my account indicating my location, gender, and age. As a result, I get ads for booze, condoms, the morning after pill, birth control, Wendy's Baconator, Burger King slushies, and a variety of other items that should appeal to people like me. Sometimes I like to think that Pandora just knows that based on my taste in music I like to party, but I think we can convincingly say this is more about demographics than anything. Today, it was the NuvaRing- a birth control method- and what struck me as most odd about this ad was the amount of warning text they were required to include. Any medical ad with this many warnings makes me think that this ad would appeal to almost no one that wasn't already familiar with the product- I see it as a message to use our product, but 75% of what we are going to show you is why our product may possibly be harmful at certain times. Is it really worth it if all these warnings have to be included? This is true of all medical ads, not just print. The ads on TV seem to be mostly warnings- just admit that you too know at least some of the reasons you should see your doctor after taking Viagra.
With this ad and most of the ads I get served I am throughly embarrassed when anyone snags a glimpse of Pandora, and sometimes worry when I have people over and Pandora is broadcasting through my speakers in the house or on the patio that an audio ad for one of these products will play. It hasn't happened yet, but it is issues like this that make me constantly change my mind about targeted advertising. Then again, I am sure somewhere out there someone has the same issue about the Depends ad they keep seeing? Right? Same problem, different demographic appeal.
I know I'm jumbling two issues of targeted advertising and medical advertising- but I guess it is the two issues together that were the motivation for posting this, there is something about the overlap I saw today that was thought provoking, aggravating, and funny all at the same time.
