Marketing

Drug Ads Raise Legislators' Blood Pressure

The U.S. Congress is investigating "the pharmaceutical industry's use of celebrity endorsements in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements." First up are ads for Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor, which feature the inventor of the artificial heart, Dr. Robert Jarvik.

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Second UK Energy Consultation Headed for Meltdown

"We are profoundly concerned that the government's approach was designed to provide particular and limiting answers," announced a spokesperson for the British nuclear consultation group. The independent group of energy economists and nuclear advisers condemned the British government's second attempt at developing a national energy policy, saying that "the government's plans to force through a new generation of nuclear power stations" is "undemocratic and possibly illegal," reported John Vidal.

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Cigarette "Taste Test" Snuffed Out

Australia's 1992 Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act prohibited most forms of tobacco advertising, making it more difficult for tobacco companies to promote their products. Despite the law, an Australian market-research firm called Feedback Plus was found to be distributing free cigarettes in a program it said was a "taste-testing survey" being carried out as part of a "marketing research" program.

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Journalism as Consumer Product?

Under the current rules of journalism, writes Edward Wasserman, coverage is rewarded if it "racks up the page-views, attracting audiences through search engines and enabling publishers to charge advertisers more." The problem (which Britney Spears seems determined to demonstrate) is that a story's popularity often has little to do with its importance. "Journalists don't peddle goods, they offer a professional service, a relationship," Wasserman writes.

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"I Shop. Therefore I Give."

Tags on clothing for sale at J.C. Penney that promise a donation to WWF.'Tis the season of gift giving, and of retailers trying to grab as much of their market share as they can. While encouraging consumerism and excessive consumption, sellers also seek to tap into nobler urges toward benevolence and charity at this time of year.

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