The amount of prime time network TV devoted to name-checking prescription drug brands has roughly doubled in the last year, according to Nielsen Product Placement.
Drug makers have been shy of product placement until now because Food and Drug Administration regulations generally prohibit drug marketers from publishing messages without risk and side-effect information. It can be very difficult to work those disclaimers into a drama or comedy script, and almost impossible to then suggest that viewers go see their doctor for more information.
A source told Brandweek that some of the "biggest" drug companies had successfully placed "disease awareness" messages in reality TV shows. Non-branded mentions of diseases and conditions are useful to drug companies because they make patients more comfortable talking to their doctors about problems, and doctor visits lead to category-wide prescription sales increases.
Because the area is so controversial—no company wants to be scrutinized by the FDA—executives declined to say which brands were being placed.
The Nielsen statistics, however, imply that their efforts have paid off. There were 337 visual or audio mentions of prescription drug brands in 2006, according to Nielsen. That's up from 231 in 2005. The length of those occurrences also increased, from 607 seconds in 2005 to 1,548 seconds last year.
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