[maxlybbert]

I know several people who have been diagnosed with, say, fibromyalgia, Crohn’s disease, PCOS, or some other chronic problem and would be happy to know about new, potentially more effective medication. In theory, they’re the primary audience for these commercials.

Additionally, some commercials are targeted at people who have undiagnosed problems, who may not even realize that what they have is unusual. Those commercials start with a list of symptoms, a recommendation to talk with a doctor, and a note that if you do have a particular condition a new drug could potentially help.

And, of course, there are ads for things that people can readily self-diagnose, like erectile dysfunction.

In practice, the ads leave a lot to be desired. Probably the worst marketing campaign I remember was Nexium, which ran ads for several years encouraging people to talk with their doctors about “the purple pill,” without ever mentioning what it could treat. The tag line — “little, purple, different” — didn’t help.

[JohnTHaller]

The other issue is that sometimes the new, more-expensive, under-patent medications are less effective than something that already exists. But they don't say that in the ad. Or to doctors when they're wining and dining them.

[ceejayoz]

> Probably the worst marketing campaign I remember was Nexium, which ran ads for several years encouraging people to talk with their doctors about “the purple pill,” without ever mentioning what it could treat. The tag line — “little, purple, different” — didn’t help.

IIRC, this trick lets them avoid the big list of disclaimers and side-effects, as they're not making any medical claims in the ad. Nasty, IMO.

[maxlybbert]

It took a while for me to remember, but let me correct something: Nuprim’s tagline was “little, yellow, different” ( https://youtu.be/kPYACe8I-T8 ). Nexium was just the purple pill with mysterious ads.