The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that Pfizer's groundbreaking cinema advertising in which a man is seen coughing-up a dead rat did not breach the industry advertising code.

The advert, seen by cinema audiences across the UK, highlights the danger of obtaining medicines from unregulated sources (see realdanger). Evidence shows there is a risk of these medicines being counterfeit, containing too little, too much or no active ingredient, or worse, toxic substances such as rat poison, boric acid or lead paint.

The ASA investigated the advert having received 63 complaints from members of the public. The adjudication concludes that the aim of the advert justified the use of hard hitting imagery and that it did not cause fear or distress without good reason, and was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

The adjudication quotes the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA), which classified the advertisement in the 15 years and above category, saying they "... believed the intended social good of the ad justified its impact." The ASA adjudication comes just one week after a survey of 423 doctors, by GP magazine, found that 25 per cent of them had treated patients for side effects caused by medicines bought online.

"We're really pleased with the adjudication," said Dr David Gillen, of Pfizer. "We set out to inform the public about the very real and growing threat from counterfeit medicines. We certainly did not want to offend people, but the dangers of obtaining medicines from unregulated sources are very real and we needed to forcefully communicate that message."

Data shows that between 50% and 90% of all prescription-only medicines bought on-line from unregulated websites are counterfeit or substandard. Before launching the advertising, Pfizer commissioned research into the scale of the problem and discovered that more than 330,000 men in the UK are likely to buy prescription-only medicines without a prescription from illicit websites every year.

Pfizer also discussed the issue with regulators and leading patient organisations. This resulted in the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), The Patients Association, Men's Health Forum and HEART UK all supporting the advertising campaign and its objectives, and placing their logos within the advertisement itself.

"We are convinced that alerting people to this danger is a responsible course of action," continued Dr Gillen. "We've gone to considerable lengths to try and guide people towards safer sources of prescription medicines, and that campaign will continue."

In order to explain the reasons behind the advert and how the graphic images were achieved, Pfizer has created a short 'Making of the advert' video which can be seen at: youtube/pfizeruk

Source
Pfizer