Comments on: The New Celebrex Ad: You Decide

By: Joanie

Joanie — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 21:42:42 +0000

Please get rid of this ad. Too long and music sounds like a broken record that you just want to slap off of the record player “showing my age, eh?” I have no clue what it says as mute or just a channel change is always the solution, for now. Get rid of it!

please

By: Franklin

Franklin — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 17:54:21 +0000

At 250 seconds we can pretty much assume that World News Tonight will NOT be reporting any damaging news about Celebrex.

Whoever sold that ad was a heck of a salesman. Whoever sold every COX-2 ad is a heck of an extinct salesman.

By: John Smoltz

John Smoltz — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:21:38 +0000

I t has always been the case people who most need this drug will not be able to tolerate having their blood turn to maple syrup. I think the ad was designed to filter out people who shouldn’t be prescribed it. If you could actually stay awake long enough your okay, if you could remember the ad five minutes after it ended your okay, and if your not on a respirator your okay. Pfizer makes no secret either in publlic or within they need the sales of Celebrex to keep the money flowing. Pfizer has a publuc PR problem as well as an institutional PR problem so they desperately need a success and it is apparent they will do it anyway they can. This is a dangerous gamble for Pfizer with so many safety issues surrounding Celebrex but if it pays off it will stall the issues surrounding their sub prime pipeline and future mass firings that are on the agenda. Let us not forget as you and others have mentioned Pfizer is a legal firm selling medicine and is running out of time or is on life support because of patent challenges or surprise better or comparable generics. This ad reminds me of a cadidate for public office who is losing so the night before the election and decides to take a long pleading ad to make their case. I think anyone who is currently working in sales at Pfizer must be notice and worry about the lack of clear message and future mission. I guess like many others will wait to see.
ps
I personally would never take Celebrex and I fall into their target age I prefer to have my heart attack the old fashioned way.

By: corey

corey — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 01:44:48 +0000

is it soup yet?

By: Laurie

Laurie — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 00:25:55 +0000

A 250 second ad for ANYTHING is going aggravate people. This one is especially obnoxious.

By: ed

ed — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 20:35:07 +0000

Jack,

Is it true you can develop arthritis simply by falling asleep on the couch while waiting for the spot to end?

By: Insider

Insider — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:56:09 +0000

I understand the next one is a mini-series with TV programs cut into it!

If they just stretch to 3 mins, I could go boil and egg!

Cheers

Jack

By: ed

ed — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:29:11 +0000

Hi Bruce,

Your points are well taken.

At the end of the day, I think Pfizer sees this as a win, no matter how questionable the risk-benefit trade-off may appear. The company knows that a segment of the population wants Celebrex, so the trick is to expand that audience by any means necessary, or at least what the FDA will allow this week.

Simply by running the ad, Pfier is generating buzz. And some people willl see it, and think they may as well try it because the pill in their cabinet doesn’t do the trick. Also, some folks will reason that if the FDA left Celebrex on the market, there must be a reason.

I don’t the preponderance of risk info is going to matter that much for now. And Pfizer can run a different ad in three or six or whatever number of months. This is all about rebuilding awareness, and on that point, I think the company is succeeding.

Two and a half minutes is too long, but compared to no ad, it’s a plus - if you work in Pfizer marketing. I will add that, if it were me, I might’ve cut the length to 90 seconds for a lot of obvious reasons.

Thanks for writing,
ed

By: Bruce Grant

Bruce Grant — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 16:45:27 +0000

So let me see if I get the message of this spot…

Those who make it through the two minutes or so of risk information finally get a tiny little coda of benefit message…conveying a tiny little package of benefits that “in some patients…may outweigh the risks.”

1. *Some* studies reported a lower incidence of *some* less-severe GI side effects with Celebrex than with Rx ibuprofen or naproxen. But larger, more recent studies suggest that there is, in fact *no* net GI benefit.

2. Patients on aspirin therapy can take Celebrex, while “many doctors” discourage the use of other Rx NSAIDs in this situation. But wait…the patients on aspirin therapy are those already being treated for cardiovascular disease and presumably at higher risk for subsequent events…so would the itty-bitty possible GI advantages of Celebres (Remember, there are no advantages for COX-2s over other NSAIDs in terms of pain relief.) really outweigh the risks in these particular patients?

I can’t even begin to imagine how much Pfizer is spending on this campaign at 250 seconds of airtime a pop. And by returning to the airwaves, they’ve just plastered a big “Kick Me” sign on their back for Sidney Wolfe, Senator Grassley, Rep. Waxman, et al.

Whoever sold this idea to Pfizer management must be one heck of a salesperson.

By: ed

ed — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:01:31 +0000

Hi John,

Good idea. Curious to see how many people bother watching such a long ad to be able to answer any question (yours or mine).