Now I Remember Why I Don’t Subscribe to Ad Age Anymore.
Somehow Advertising Age started showing up uninvited at my house. I used to be a faithful reader, but it just became so irrelevant to the newspaper business, I quit reading a couple decades ago.
Just a couple issues convinced me I’m still right in my assessment.
Here’s what the Editor-in-Chief Rance Crain wrote in commenting on a moratorium on big pharma consumer advertising:
And we’re going to see ads for diseases we never knew were a problem (restless-leg syndrome, anyone?)
and…
Take Avodart — please. Apparently, some “guys” (as they are always called) have the problem of an enlarged prostate, which forces them to make frequent trips to the bathroom. The ads for the drug show some poor guy interrupting important work, such as making scaled-down versions of planets (to go with a scaled-down prostate, get it?), to rush for the bathroom, to the annoyance of his fellow workers. My take on this problem is if nature wants you to relieve yourself on a frequent basis, maybe it’s not a bad idea.
So I responded:
Dear EIC,
Your ignorant comment about Restless Legs Syndrome “diseases we never knew were a problem” is just foolish. First, it’s not a disease, it’s a condition. It’s real. For you to make light of it just hacks me off. You further back up your ignorance saying “guys” have enlarged prostates (is this news to you? - you are aware that only guys have prostates, right?) Avodart is not needed according to you because if nature wants you to pee a lot, it’s OK. You want nature to run your body? Have a nice day Cancer Boy!
Cancel my free subscription.
(I guess somebody thought since I was in the newspaper business I would be interested in reading what Rupert Murdoch’s top dog, et al think. I don’t.) And since there were at least three other stories in the same issue that I thought were pretty stupid, I don’t need the grief of dealing with such ignorance and stupidity through your thin little journal.
PS: Are you SO important that your email address doesn’t NEED to appear along with your mug shot or column?
Big pharma’s direct to consumer advertising is wasteful and adds to the cost of drugs. It should be curtailed, just like cigarette advertising was curtailed. That’s not my point at all. RLS advertising direct to consumer IS a perfect point since it’s estimate that only 3% of adults have RLS, so why spend millions on advertising.
But Crain should stick to writing about advertising without his lame asides casting aspersions on medical conditions.