Looks like the Wall Street Journal has begun to report on this now..

I found this part of the article the most interesting..

“Glaxo will probably steer clear of posting items about prescription products on YouTube, because it doesn’t want to run afoul of regulations on communicating drug information to the public, Thomson said.

Critics of the company haven’t been shy about posting their own videos, though, including a slew on the antidepressant sold as Paxil in the U.S. or Seroxat elsewhere. One stark video is an open letter to Glaxo by a woman who claims the company’s antidepressant Wellbutrin gave her tremors. Finally, there’s a video on the most bizarre game of Frisbee that we’ve ever seen, which for reasons we can’t determine begins with the title “GlaxoSmithKline.”

Glaxo’s Thomson declined to comment on any of the material that wasn’t produced by the company.”

That said, Mr Witty seems like an affable enough individual which has to be an improvement on Mr JP Garnier, who was seen by many as arrogant, out of touch, condescending, uncaring and pompous …
If Mr Witty wants to change GSK’s image, that will take a long time, information on Avandia and about children killing themselves on Paxil because of GSK suppressing data will resonate on the internet for a long time to come… Parents , friends and families don’t easily forget things like that.. The GSK image is heading towards that of an “Enron”..

If Mr Witty wants to wipe the slate clean after the departure of JP Garnier, all he would have to do is apologize to people and families of those harmed by Paxil -Seroxat, Avandia etc etc…
I know that will never happen due to lawsuits etc, but he would have to realize himself that people respond to sincerity and genuine remorse and the only way to heal hurt is to acknowledge it and admit it was wrong..

One little youtube video is not going to redeem a pharmaceutical company which is viewed by many as a an inhuman corporate monster with no regard for patients , consumers, ethics and humanity in general..

I do also feel that GSK’s recent entree into the world of Youtube and social media could be a little too late and this PR exercise could very easily get lost amongst the growing volume of negative GSK videos which have already established themselves firmly on the Youtube channel…

These are but a small example of GSK video’s currently showing on youtube… (notice when you search the word “GSK” on youtube)

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=GSK&search_type=&aq=f

I applaud GSK. This is the way of the future. Candidates want insight into an organization, not their polished PR & Investor Relations messaging. Now, the key is providing all that content on a focused life sciences platform so it all does not get lost in the generality of a site like YouTube.

Welcome to Beaker.

Of course, we didn’t have U-Tube then. Are they on MTV?

fID