No drug ads in the UK either. The first time I read POZ magazine I was struck by how much of it was given over to ads.
Here in the UK, Positive Nation Magazine has usually two drug company adverts. I grabbed one off the shelf at random just now - February 2006. The inside front cover shows two men embracing, with the caption, "Facing the future together". In the lower right hand corner (it's a full page ad) it says Gilead
Facing the Future
And that's it. No drug mention at all.
The back cover shows an outstretched hand holding a red ribbon. The caption reads,
In their hands it's a sign of awareness.
In your hands it's a sign of understanding.
In our hands it's a sign of commitment.
Abbott Laboratories Limited
HIV CARE
for the duration
And again, that's it. No drug mention whatsoever. I've never understood the purpose of these ads. Are they supposed to make us "feel good", are they meant to make us feel grateful to the companies?
The thing I don't get, is how can the phama companies justify the huge advertising budgets they run through - when people cannot prescribe the drugs for themselves? They shout about how they spend so much on research and development (citing this as a reason to charge the prices they do), but their advertising/promotional budgets are much higher.
Prescription drug adverts of any type should be banned completely. Well, that's my opinion anyway. They just don't make any sense to me, The money from advertising budgets should be funneled into R&D and bringing down the cost of life saving drugs.
Ann