Unbranded DTCA ads may be the new trend in the US

Major pharmaceutical companies have recently been running TV advertisements in the US that don't mention the name of their product. The ads look and sound more like disease awareness campaigns, however product information is made available on the associated website.

Analysts suggest this is a way to avoid the stipulation that companies must include information about side effects in advertisements that mention the drug. A significant proportion of the commercial's air time can be taken up with this information. The companies may also be making a calculation that this sort of campaign is less easily dismissed by consumers as 'advertising' and as a result it may be prove more effective than traditional ads at creating a market for their products.

Some of the companies that are adopting this form of disease-awareness advertising are Pfizer's Chantix (antismoking drug), Ely Lilly's Evista (osteoporosis) and Sanofi-Aventis' Ambien (insomnia).