Truth in Advertising: What happens to a brand when its advertising is not exactly, ummm, authentic?
Thursday, February 21st, 2008 | Archive, Blog.
I read an e-newsletter today that had a link to a New York Times article about Dr. Robert Jarvik, inventor of the artificial heart, “medical doctor” (he is not licensed), and current pitchman for the Pfizer cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor. What it revealed is disturbing to me as a creator of advertising and marketing.
In an age when everyone is touting transparency and authenticity (and why shouldn’t we?), Pfizer has chosen to mislead the public by hiring a pitchman who isn’t exactly who he appears to be. It’s a grave mistake. Why? Because people don’t like to be duped. I don’t. Do you?
I admit, upon seeing the commercials for the first time, I thought they were well done, especially the one that shows Jarvik in a photo as a young man beside his Dad, who died of a massive heart attack. Jarvik, while having a fairly harsh appearance (I wouldn’t cast him in a commercial that calls for someone “pleasant-looking”), comes across as sincere, soft even. You believe him. And that’s the problem.
You see Jarvik as a rower (sculling). Is he a rower? No. Some of the ads seem to imply that he’s a cardiologist. Is he a cardiologist? No. He is not even licensed to practice medicine at present. Does he jog with his son on occasion, as he does in one of the commercials? I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not.
The point is: if the client and the advertising agency (Kaplan Thaler) will take liberties with the “truth” regarding the product’s primary spokesperson, what does that say about the drug itself? Is the drug company forthcoming about the efficacy of Lipitor? What’s the “truth” about the drug itself? As a consumer, not an ad guy, it makes me wonder, now that I know the truth about Jarvik.
The number one rule of advertising: NEVER make me feel stupid. Pfizer has made me feel stupid because I believed them. And Jarvik? He seems to have sold out.
Net, net? Brand tarnished. Credibility questioned. Sales falling?
Be impeccably honest. It’s easier. People generally know the difference intuitively (remember Gladwell’s Blink?), and if they don’t initially, they will eventually.
Tags: authenticity, brand, consumer, number one rule of advertising, pitchman, Press Releases, transparency, truth, truth in advertising
