Pfizer plans to launch a 2½-minute US TV commercial on Monday for their arthritis painkiller Celebrex, which has been off TV for more than two years due to safety concerns about drugs in its class.
The spot is five times as long as most TV ads. Pfizer says the time is needed to explain Celebrex's risks and benefits and to dispel confusion. Many consumers wrongly assume it was withdrawn with Vioxx, a similar drug, in 2004, Pfizer says.
The ad also points out that prescription-strength ibuprofen and naproxen — Celebrex's chief rivals — carry similar government-mandated warnings about cardiovascular risk and that they, too, pose risks to stomachs and intestines.
"It's one of the longest TV ads I've ever heard of," says Louis Morris, an ex-Food and Drug Administration official who monitored drug ads and is now an industry consultant.
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Someone please stick this ad on YouTube!!
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