Individualism

While researching commercials for this blog, I have watched mostly commercials which target women as consumers. These commercials frequently air during daytime television programs. Unlike the ongoing narratives of the soap operas they interrupt, DTCAs offer one minute vignettes with a happy ending. During the first several seconds of this commercial for the cholesterol medicine Lipitor I was not sure what they were advertising. The commercial begins near a beautiful lake surrounded by trees. The narrator, a fit, good-looking man in his fifties, says, "I can't believe I used to swing over those rocks. I took some foolish risks as a teenager" (Pfizer, 2010). He goes on to compare it to the risks he was taking with high cholesterol. I am not the target audience for this ad, and it attracted my attention precisely because it didn't make me want to watch more. The landscape is pretty, but there is no compelling music and no narrative hook. This ad seems to target men of a high socioeconomic class, someone who could afford to spend time in such a gorgeous place with no one else around, no tourists or neighbors. By setting the commercial in a natural setting, the producers of the commercial aren't saying their product is "natural", but that even if you have a healthy lifestyle you might still be at risk for heart disease or stroke, like the narrator. Viewers see the narrator from a distance as he walks through the woods alone with his dog. They walk onto a pier and then jump in the lake together. Entering the lake from the pier instead of swinging over the rocks reinforces that he has indeed stopped taking "foolish risks" (Pfizer, 2010). The man alone with his dog and the distant shot of him walking in the woods speaks of individualism, a "self-fulfillment, self-reliance, self-expression", that may resonate with other men (Butler, 2007, p. 375). It also says to them, if healthy, attractive people are at risk for heart disease maybe you are too.



Resources:
Butler, Jeremy G. (2007). Television: Critical Methods and Applications. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

“Lipitor - Don't Kid Yourself.” Lipitor/Pfizer. (2010). Commercial. Reviewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogyC9rEjxDM&feature=youtu.be


Video retrieved from:  http://youtu.be/ogyC9rEjxDM

Interview

 To put the analysis of the direct-to-consumer ads (DTCAs) in context I think it is relevant to include the experiences of real people with prescription drugs. I began the interview with a description of my blog, making sure to note that the blog was an analytical criticism of the prescription drug advertisements, not the use of prescription drugs. I interviewed Amy (pseudonym).

Me:  Thank you for talking with me about your experience with prescription drugs. Will you start by telling me about the medication you used and why you were taking it?

Amy: My doctor prescribed Zoloft to treat my depression. I was on it for a total of 5 months. Although it seemed to work at first, that could have just been a placebo. I didn't feel it helped my depression really.

Me: Did you experience any side effects from taking Zoloft?

Amy: The Zoloft was supposed to help stabilize my sleep patterns, but it never really helped. Actually, the reason I stopped taking it was because I started sleepwalking. I have never had that experience before, and it was scary and strange. It's also especially dangerous for me because I have trouble with my balance. I had a stroke about six years ago because of complications with a pregnancy. The stroke affected my brain stem near the cerebellum. The cerebellum controls large motor movements, and the stroke has caused balance problems.

The Zoloft also caused joint pain in my knees and shoulders and weight gain. I'm still struggling to lose the weight I gained while I was taking it. I was using the elliptical machine four times a week to try to lose the weight. Using the elliptical machine that frequently caused me to have more balance issues when I'm walking. I need to work out different muscle groups to help with the balance issues. I'm still working on how to do that at home.

The following is a Zoloft commercial so you can compare Amy's experiences with the peacefulness conveyed in the ad.


After the interview Amy watched this Zoloft commercial and commented on how "happy" and light-hearted the ad is and how different and frustrating her experience with the drug was. "Frankly, I'm still bitter about the weight gain, and it [Zoloft] didn't help with the depression at all."

In analyzing this commercial, what I notice first is that it is animated. This differentiates it from daytime programs during which it probably aired. The animation makes it immediately attention grabbing. The pill-like character is kind of cute and looks sad. I feel empathy for it, and I want to keep watching to see why it is so sad. Visually the commercial is all white, black and gray with the exception of a bluebird that lands near the pill, looking concerned. The black drawing on a white background with a gray cloud overhead has a somber appearance, echoing the mood of the character. The cloud raining only on the pill is an obvious metaphor for feeling sad or depressed. The bright blue of the bird is visually attention grabbing and metaphorically represents hopefulness and joy that is within reach if you take Zoloft. Oddly, there is no music during the first part of the commercial. The music starts during the animation of a chemical imbalance in the brain. The music is syncopated, representing the movement of the imbalanced chemicals. As the narrator explains the imbalance and how Zoloft can help, the music and chemicals begin to flow rhythmically. The narrator goes on to describe the side effects while the music is playing and the pill character is going happily on its way.

Metacriticism

The use of prescription drugs is a nuanced and personal issue; however, the marketing of them is not. The deeper I dig into this topic the less convinced I am that direct-to-consumer (DCTAs) prescription drug ads offer much benefit to the consumer. One exception may be that they motivate viewers of the ads to go to their doctor in order to ask about the drug, where they may then receive a diagnosis and treatment for diabetes or high blood pressure. DTCAs get people to the doctor who otherwise might not go, but does this benefit outweigh the costs?

The Persuasive Style

"What sound/image techniques and rhetorical strategies do commercials use to make products seem desirable? What... is the persuasive style of the TV commercial?" (Butler, 2007, p. 388)

As I was researching Direct to Consumer prescription drug advertisements (DTCAs) I came across this advertisement for Enbrel, a medication to treat rheumatoid arthritis. I was moved by the narrative of the this particular ad and wanted to analyze what elements of the persuasive style made it so persuasive.

The commercial opens with a close up of a woman's hand rubbing her knee in slow motion and the narrator saying, "With rheumatoid arthritis it feels like my life is split in two." The hand becomes the x-ray image of a hand, and then the screen splits into two images. A close up of the woman's face is in one frame, and what I assume is her husband and children eating breakfast in the other frame. The narrator says, "There's the life I live, and the life I want to live." (Pfizer, Amgen) Let's stop and analyze the first seven seconds. First, there's the slow motion speed which is used to attract the viewer's attention. Narrative programs don't usually use variable speed action so it is something that we notice. Second, is the x-ray hand, a special effect that alters reality and causes us to pay attention. In an advertisement for a pharmaceutical drug the x-ray hand creates an air of scientific authenticity. "It [the x-ray image] speaks the language of a modernist belief in the capacity of science and technology. Scientific images are thus understood as providing the capacity to see 'truths' that are not available to the human eye" (Sturken & Cartwright, 2001, p.281). Superimposing the x-ray over the hand gives medical authority to the maker of the drug because they can "see" under the the skin; while not talking about the x-ray allows the advertisement to keep its disguise as a short story about people's lives.

Music and the Television Commercial

Commercial dialogue must be convincing and to the point because it only has a short amount of time to make us believe. Music is a rhetorical device that can set a commercial apart from the narrative program that it interrupts. Commercials, unlike most narrative programs (except for the theme song), use songs with lyrics. The change in music attracts our attention and says, "Hey, something different is happening. Check this out."  The music in a television commercial is often more memorable than the images. Everyone knows the theme song for Band Aids: "I am stuck on Band-Aid brand 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me" (Johnson & Johnson, 2007). Music, especially lyrics, can help to establish brand identity and grab viewers' attention.

In the following commercial men are exploding from their homes and leaping, into the air with arms high overhead while Queen's "We Are the Champions" is playing (Mercury, 1977). It makes me want to keep watching to see what is making everyone so happy. Then the word Viagra® appears on the screen. The implication is that Viagra® will make you feel as exuberant as the people in the ad. I wish I knew how to break down music into its different elements to establish specifically why this song, "We Are the Champions" is such an anthem, but I don't (Mercury, 1977). It seems to me to have everything to do with the rhythm and the words and the pacing of the song, which is slow and steady. They can take their time because they have already won, and they are now basking in the glory. The people are jumping in slow motion "to emphasize strength and majesty and to show viewers actions that normally occur too quickly for the human eye to comprehend" (Bulter, 2007, p. 400). This song was carefully chosen (and paid for) for the Viagra® commercial as Pfizer, the drug's maker, wants viewers to believe it will make them feel like a champion.


Resource:
Butler, Jeremy G. (2007). Television: Critical Methods and Applications. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Video retrieved from: http://youtu.be/Xk9JwV8sZTs

Psychoanalytical Criticism of DTC Advertisements

Since the FDA began allowing drug companies to advertise directly to consumers (DTC) in 1997, spending on DTC advertising has increased from $47 million in 1990 to nearly $2.5 billion in 2000 (Kaphinst et al., 2004). Direct to consumer television advertisements are pervasive, and because they tend to be formulaic, there are as many drug advertisement spoofs as there are real DTC drug ads. Despite the fact savvy consumers have recognized their scripts, DTC advertisements continue to be a part of our television culture, so they must be effective. In this psychoanalytical criticism I will explore two DTC advertisements for anti-depressants, one for Zoloft and one for Cymbalta, to analyze what makes these ads so successful.