Celebrities help sell prescription drugs
February 17, 1999
NEW YORK (AP) -- Former presidential
nominee Bob Dole admits that he takes Viagra.
The perfectly composed Joan Lunden suffers from
itchy eyes and sneezing. Denver Broncos running
back Terrell Davis fights migraine headaches.
No, these people aren't attending a self-help group
for celebrities with ailments. They're helping
drugmakers pitch their medications.
As competition in the drug industry intensifies and
pressure mounts on companies to build profits, an
increasing number of pharmaceutical firms are
employing famous actors, politicians and sports
stars to attract consumer and physician interest.
"The use of celebrities is the next big way to
differentiate a drug," said Kelly Peters, senior
marketing manager for IMS Health, a health
information firm based in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
Celebrity product endorsements are nothing new:
"Seinfeld" co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus touted hair
color and Michael Jordan sells telephone service.
But until last year, drugmakers did not use them to
market to consumers because the industry's sole
focus was on promoting their products to doctors
who prescribe the medications.
The emergence of celebrity drug advertising -- to
patients and physicians -- comes amid an explosion
in consumer advertising since the Food and Drug
Administration in August 1997 loosened restraints
on television and radio commercials for prescription
drugs.
Last July, Schering-Plough became the first
pharmaceutical firm to use a celebrity in a
direct-to-consumer national television campaign. It
tapped Lunden, former "Good Morning, America"
anchor, to promote its prescription allergy pill,
Claritin.
The company would not reveal how much she was
paid, though analysts have speculated it's about $1
million a year.
The payoff for Schering-Plough: Claritin worldwide
sales soared by 35 percent last year to $2.3 billion,
including $1.9 billion in the United States.
"We saw this as the next step to reach out to
consumers," said Schering-Plough spokesman Bob
Consalvo.
Despite their increasing use, celebrities ads still
represent only a tiny portion of the billions the
industry spends on drug promotion each year. Drug
companies still rely on thousands of sales agents to
persuade doctors to use their drugs, said Ed
Mathers, vice president consumer health-care
marketing for Glaxo Wellcome.
But the use of celebrities shows how
pharmaceutical firms have become more creative in
their marketing. For example, Schering-Plough
advertises Claritin on United Airlines baggage tags
and Merck offers patients a money-back guarantee
on its cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor.
Drug companies use different types of celebrity
pitches to sell their products. In some instances,
they use those who can give a firsthand testimonial
to the effectveness of the drug, as Lunden did with
her hay fever treatment.
Other companies use public figures to raise
awareness of an illness to spur visits to a doctor for
treatment.
For instance, Pfizer, maker of Viagra -- the only pill
available for treatment of impotence -- will launch
an educational campaign on the disorder later this
month featuring former Senate Majority Leader
Dole. Dole, who has acknowledged taking Viagra,
won't mention it by name in the ad.
Yet in other instances, the celebrities are hired guns
who use their reputation to pitch specific drugs.
Merck, the world's largest drug company, hired
baseball star Cal Ripkin to promote the company's
Prinivil hypertension drug in ads that appear in
medical magazines. Ripkin, as the ads disclose,
does not suffer from high blood pressure.
"Cal symbolizes hard work and a solid work ethic,"
said Merck spokesman John Bloomfield. "And
Prinivil provides hard work ethic against a disease."
Mickey Smith, professor of pharmaceutical
administration at the University of Mississippi, said
the celebrity's believability is key to making such
campaigns work.
"The ads have to make sense," he said.
Two celebrities who suffer from migraines are
working with drugmakers to inform patients that
new treatments are available. Actress Jennie Garth,
of "Beverly Hills, 90210" fame, was hired by Glaxo
Wellcome, which sells the leading migraine
medication Imitrex. Novartis has contracted with
Davis of the National Football League to talk to
groups about his experience with its Migranol drug.
Davis used the nasal spray during the 1998 Super
Bowl, which the Broncos won and Davis was
named Most Valuable Player.
Another example: Novartis Pharmaceuticals hired
Maureen Reagan, daughter of former President
Reagan, to increase public knowledge of
Alzheimer's as it prepares to launch Exelon, a drug
that delays the onset of the disease.
"We wanted a spokesperson to be someone with
personal experience," said Novartis spokesman
Harry Hohm.
Celeb Ads
Some celebrities and the marketing campaigns they
have conducted for pharmaceutical companies:
-- Olympia Dukakis: The actress was hired by
Novartis Pharmaceuticals for its osteoporosis
awareness campaign. Dukakis has the bone loss
disease.The company sells Miacalcin nasal spray
for the condition.
-- Gavin MacLeod: The actor led a consumer
awareness campaign about impotence for Vivus
Inc., which markets Muse, an anti-impotence drug
given by injection. MacLeod did not personally use
Muse.
-- Stephanie Powers: The actress was hired by
Alza Corp., maker of Ditropan XL, the first
one-a-day overactive bladder treatment, for a
public awareness campaign. Powers does not
suffer from overactive bladder.
-- Kirby Puckett: A Minnesota Twins baseball
player until his career was ended by glaucoma, was
hired by Pharmacia& Upjohn to help the company
raise awareness about disease that causes
blindness. The firm makes the glaucoma drug
Xalatan.
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