Truth in Advertising

Advertising fascinates me. We really are programmed to a great extent by advertising, despite our self assessment that we are in charge of our own free will. Anyway, I really notice advertising, I see it everywhere. When I was a kid lawyers and pharmaceuticals weren't allowed to advertise (they did it anyway, the freebies to doctors for instance. Yellow pages ads, the lawyer who had the whole back cover of the phone book, that's advertising.

They also weren't allowed to advertising hard liquor, only beer, on TV. Which stopped Jack Daniels from making television commercials but didn't exactly slow down their ad agency. NASCAR used to have the Winston Cup, bammo, there's a cigarette ad (still forbidden in TV Land). They changed the name of the race but I think there's still cars wrapped with advertising for tobacco and booze.

But I recently applied for a clinical trial (I need the money), and it's a study of an investigational med used in conjunction with Jardiance, a drug which is on the market and advertised with silly musical productions. The little pill with a big story to tell, isn't that Jardiance?

Well, I'm a candidate for this trial it turns out, and I think I'm going to do it. The more I read about Jardiance itself, the more I realize it's a drug that was made for me and my health history. I had a heart attack when I was 32, needed a double bypass at 43; I have type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and a fatty liver. Specifically the combination of diabetes and heart disease seems to be where Jardiance shines.

My only complaint is they've advertised this drug at me ad nauseum for years and I never got the memo that it might be for me. I knew it was a diabetes drug, that's it. I'm on other medications for my various conditions, including Ozempic (which I love because I've lost 25 lbs and have actual self control when eating), but millions of dollars worth of advertising amounted to an occasional ear worm (the jingle), but no real information being transmitted.

Is it truth in advertising I seek? I don't know. I think the nature of an ad is it tries to get you to convince yourself you need the product. That doesn't necessarily mean a lie. It can, that's called a hustle or a scam, give factually false information to persuade the viewer that he needs what's being pedalled. But it doesn't have to be a lie, it's better in fact if most of your facts are actually facts, even if those facts don't add up quite to the message you're delivering.