I read with interest today's email missive from Bob Ehrlich, Chairman of DTC Perspectives. He was talking about the "Dry Eye DTC Battle" between Allergan's Restasis and the new kid on the bloc: Shire's Xiidra (two i's - get it? aka two "eyes").
Ehrlich pointed out that Shire enlisting Jennifer Aniston is a "big get. Getting a movie star to promote the dry eye condition must have cost Shire a lot in talent fees," said Ehrlich.
Ehrlich noted that Aniston is getting "lots of commercial endorsements these days. She is touting skin care brand Aveeno and plugging the comforts of Emirate Airways. I am sure Shire considered whether we at a Jennifer saturation point. My feeling is we can take a couple more campaigns before she gets overused."
My view is that celebs are being overused by pharma marketers these days. Why?
By now you've probably read several media reports about Kim Kardashian's enthusiastic Instagram post promoting Diclegis, a prescription morning-sickness medicine. That's only because the FDA sent a Warning Letter to the drug’s maker, Duchesnay Inc.
FDA's letter ordered the company to "immediately cease misbranding." Kim -- obeying orders no doubt from Duchesnay -- removed her violative Instagram post, but it lives on in the media seen by millions and also in a Duchesnay press release (Kim Kardashian West Found Morning Sickness Relief with Diclegis).
Of course, the press release also contains all the necessary risk information, including a very troubling side effect in children.
OMG! Is there nothing old athletes won't do for money?
Remember Monica Seles who was famously stabbed on the tennis court in 1993? No? OK, whatever. She's celebrity enough to hawk for Shire, which recently won PRIORITY approval from the FDA for a new indication for Vyvanse, it's ADHD drug:
Binge Eating Disorder or B.E.D.
According to Seles & Shire, which is hosting the website BingeEatingDisorder.com ("A Resource for Understanding B.E.D. in Adults"):
"Binge Eating Disorder (B.E.D.) is not just overeating. It is a real medical condition [my emphasis] that was formally recognized in 2013. B.E.D. is the most common eating disorder among US adults."
How many times have you heard the phrase "It is a real medical condition" before? Aside from Seles & Shire, who says B.E.D. is a real medical condition? Who "formally recognized" it in 2013 (just in time for Shire to ask for FDA approval)?
Cable-TV star Rick Harrison (host of the show Pawn Stars) is now officially a celebrity spokesperson for Amarin's Omega-3 Vascepa brand Rx drug. A few minutes ago, Harrison made the official announcement via his @GoldSilverPawn Twitter account, which has over 155,000 followers:
"Excited to share my story of lowering my very high #triglycerides through the new Lower My Trigs campaign: http://bit.ly/1uXxUSP #spon"
“If I hadn't checked with my doctor, I would have made the mistake many make, thinking dietary supplement omega-3s are actually over-the-counter drugs,” Harrison says in a video on the site LowerMyTrigs.com, adding that Pawn Stars teaches that “knowing what's valuable and authentic is important to success.”
As part of the campaign, Harrison compares checking with his doctor about the value of Omega-3 fish oil products to asking a baseball expert if a bat was used by Mickey Mantle to hit a home run. "Make sure to check the facts," says Harrison.
But like many patients Harrison might have asked a relative for health advice. He often asks his dad for advice on Pawn Stars. That crotchety elder Harrison -- with his years of experience -- might have pointed out the "fishiness" of the claims made by Amarin (via Rick the younger) with regard to Vascepa versus off-the-shelf omega-3 fish oil supplements and other prescription fish oil products like Lovaza.
Phil Mickelson, 5-over, missed the cut at the Masters this year. Bummer!
Because of that, you might not see more Enbrel ads featuring Mickelson who is a hired gun - er, celebrity spokesperson - for the Enbrel brand (see "Amgen Blows Its Marketing Budget on Phil Mickelson Campaign"). Unless, of course, the TV ads were pre-purchased at a discount to run during the Masters.
It makes sense for Amgen to cut back on running the Mickelson-Enbrel ads if Phil is not going to be in the Masters. But Amgen already cut back on Enbrel advertising in 2013. That year, the Enbrel DTC spend was $77 million (see here) according to Nielsen. In comparison, the spend was $127 million in 2012 (see here).
Why did Amgen but back on Enbrel DTC in 2013 when Mickelson was doing well at the Masters and had a decent PGA standing?
Just for fun, I did some research to compare Mickelson's PGA standing and Enbrel's DTC ad spend from 2010, when Mickelson was first hired as an Enbrel spokesperson, to 2013, the latest year for which figures are available.
False and misleading drug ads can harm consumers and the healthcare system. In order to limit the harm from false Rx drug advertising, FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) tracks several kinds of regulatory violations such as:
Risk omission or minimization
Superiority claims
Overstatement of efficacy
Unsubstantiated claim
Broadening of indication
Promotion of an unapproved use
Promotion of an unapproved compound
According EyeonFDA, which has compiled data from FDA Warning and Notice of Violation Letters since 2004, "omission" or "minimization" of risk information is by far the most commonly-cited violation (see chart).
This applies to FDA-regulated branded pharma ads, but what about unbranded "disease awareness" ads, which are NOT regulated by the FDA* (see P.P.S.)? When these ads mention the benefits of "drug treatments," should they also mention risks of these treatments and/or life-style changes like branded ads are required to do?
Novo Nordisk has gone through the PR wringer over its choice of Krispy Creme donut loving celebrity chef Paula Deen as its Victoza diabetes drug spokesperson. The latest Deen brouhaha is about her alleged racism and use of the "N" word (see "Should Novo Nordisk Dump Deen?").
Given that, you might think Novo would be more conservative in its choice of future diabetes spokespeople. I just learned, however, that Novo recently signed hip-hop demigod Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons, the cofounder of Run-DMC, as a spokesperson for its "Ask. Screen. Know." (ASK for short) type 2 diabetes screening initiative. If you do a bit of research, you will learn that back in 2008 -- and maybe even up till he signed with Novo -- Rev Run also teamed up with Kool-Aid, a sugary drink that is to type 2 diabetes what gasoline is to fire.
UPDATE (27 June 2013): Novo Nordisk "Dumps" ... err, "Suspends" Deen:
"Novo Nordisk and Paula Deen have mutually agreed to suspend our patient education activities for now, while she takes time to focus her attention where it is needed.
Novo Nordisk would like to acknowledge Paula’s involvement in our Diabetes in a New Light™ campaign, where she has helped make many people aware of type 2 diabetes and the lifestyle changes needed to control this serious disease."
By now everyone should know that Paula Deen -- celebrity chef and Novo Nordisk's Victoza diabetes drug spokesperson -- admitted in a videotaped deposition as part of a discrimination suit that “Yes, of course,” she has used the "N" word.
As a result, the Food Network has opted not to continue her contract. Should Novo also "dump Deen?"
Some time ago, before this latest Deen PR fiasco erupted, I asked if the Novo Nordisk deal with Paula Deen was "Brilliant or Dumb?" (see here). To date, the responses are evenly split between "brilliant" and "dumb." If you haven't already taken this poll, here it is again:
Celebrity spokespeople seem to be all the rage in pharma marketing circles these days. I wonder, however, how closely the FDA is watching celebrity endorsements such as former NFLer Jerome Jerome “The Bus” Bettis's promotion of Sanofi's talking epinephrine injection, Auvi-Q, which is marketed for the treatment of life-threatening allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) in people who are at risk for or have a history of these reactions.
Bettis is not just promoting anaphylaxis awareness on TV shows such as the The Doctors. On TV, Bettis is actively demonstrating how the product works and naming brand names. But he
does not disclose that he is being paid by Sanofi to endorse Auvi-Q, and
does not mention the "important safety information" (ISI), which is required by FDA regulations whenever a pharma company or its agents promote brand name products and the conditions they treat.
"Hey y'all, I'm Paula Deen and these are my sons Bobby and Jamie," says Paula Deen, Novo Nordisk's Victoza diabetes drug spokesperson, in a new video designed to solicit personal stories for a chance to "walk in Paula's footsteps this year." It's the launch of the Seeing Diabetes in a New Light® contest. Here's a screen shot from the video (I couldn't find a way to embed it -- too bad; y'all go find it here):
There are so many similar contests soliciting diabetes stories from patients that you can hardly swing a cat on the Internet without hitting one, if y'all get my drift.
Here's a contest for you:
The winner will be invited to spend a day with Pharmaguy™ in his home office in Newtown, PA. No expenses will be paid.
And these contests must be VERY popular! My podcast interview of Bruce Braughton, Vice President, Insulin Franchise for Sanofi U.S., about the "Diabetes Co-stars Casting Call" contest (here) has been listened to over 21,000 times since December 6, 2012. It gleaned more listens than any of my other 200 or so podcast interviews (see here).
It seems that y'all don't have to be too creative or worry too much about targeting and such when marketing in the diabetes arena. Just find a celebrity with diabetes, pay her (and her children or spouse) well, launch a contest where the winner can schmooze with the celebrity, and voila! Y'all got ROI! By which I mean lots of responses, page views, video views, etc. Sales? I dunno...
Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug marketers are hitching on to the Super Bowl bandwagon. This morning, for example, I received an e-mail from Novo Nordisk's "Cornerstone4Care" program with the subject line "Delicious Big Game snacking for those with diabetes." I must have signed up for this e-mail list when I reviewed the "Diabetes and You" iBook published by Novo (see "Pharma 'eBooks': Imagining what COULD be, not what IS").
"The traditional Big Game party is usually a down-to-earth, unpretentious affair, with everyone rooting for their favorite team and enjoying snacks that are easy to serve and eat," said Novo in the e-mail message. "Of course, many of those snacks are unhealthy for everybody, let alone for the many people like my patients who live with diabetes."
The banner above this sensible message, however, piqued my interest: "Why this year's Big Game party needn't cramp your (diet) style." Which led me to believe I would find some low-carb, low-fat TRADITIONAL Super Bowl recipes if I clicked through to the site. So I did. This is the image that greeted me on the site's home screen:
Those BBQ nuggets and dip looked very tempting, so I took the "BAIT" and clicked on the little "+" sign expecting to find the anticipated lo-cal, lo-fat recipe for this traditional-looking Super Bowl dish. Instead, I found this, which I believe is called the "SWITCH" in marketing "Bait-and-Switch" scams:
Despite the photo of juicy BBQs wings on this screen, there was no recipe for that, just for fish -- and NOT the breaded, deep-fried variety as in fish and chips. I'm talking about healthy fish dishes such as Light canned tuna, salmon, Atlantic and Pacific mackerel, herring, and -- no kidding -- anchovies!
OK, fool me once, shame on you! But Novo fooled me twice! An annoying feature of this site is the pop-up when you accidentally mouse over the "Related Novo Nordisk Sites" option at the top of the screen:
All of a sudden, what was an educational, unbranded disease awareness site, is now shown to be a pitch for Novo's branded diabetes products. I'm OK with that little "switch," but I was really annoyed when I realized how difficult it was to close that pop-up and get back to the unbranded stuff without seeing ads for products. Novo is using some kind of technology -- probably Adobe Flash -- to make this pop-up have a life of its own and difficult to get rid of. Grrrrr!!!
Interestingly, the "Non-Insulin Therapy" option opens a screen about Victoza, the therapy having the famous southern chef Paula Deen as the spokesperson (see, for example, "Novo Nordisk Defends Choice of Paula Deen Over Anthony Bourdain (for example) as Celebrity Chef Spokesperson"). I was curious as to what Super Bowl recipes from Paula I would find on the Victoza site. Unfortunately, the Victoza marketing team is still focused on New Year's recipes and not Super Bowl recipes.
But I was sure that Deen's alter ego (i.e., non-Victoza spokesperson for her "Cooking with Paula" franchise; see here) would have plenty of Super Bowl recipes. Sure enough, there was no "Bait-and-Switch" here:
Paula offers more "traditional" Super Bowl recipes as in:
Beefy Beany Cheesy Dip
Garlic Shrimp Crostini
Sloppy Joe Meatballs
Tuna Kebabs with Wasabi Sauce
Grilled Sausage and Onion Kebabs
Baked Potato Skins
Mini Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders
Roasted Peppers and Onion Dip
Roasted Red Pepper Roll-Ups
Peanut Butter Mousse Cups
Orange Pistachio Brownies
Obviously, these recipes are not for people with diabetes, who must be satisfied with steamed fish on Sunday instead!
Yesterday, on my way to the NJ Turnpike, I passed by the BMS R&D facilities in Hopewell, NJ and noticed a sign announcing that Novo Nordisk will build a site directly across the road from BMS. I couldn't help commenting to Mrs. Pharmaguy, who prefers the Route 1 path to the NJT, that "diabetes has been very good to Novo" because it seems to be growing rapidly. Not too long ago Novo built a new mega site on the Route 1 path to NJT. Gone are the days when Novo had only a smallish U.S. presence (and building) further south on Route 1 near Princeton.
So, it seems Novo is betting big on the U.S. diabetes market and well it should. As we all know from recent reports, currently 26 million people in the U.S. have diabetes and about a quarter of them do not know it (see this infographic) and by 2020 it is estimated that nearly half of U.S. adults will suffer from diabetes (I didn't just pull that factoid of my you-know-what; see here).
Lately, it seems that Novo is focused on athlete celebrities. Novo Nordisk in Europe, for example, recently launched an all-diabetes professional cycling team to compete as part of "Team Novo Nordisk" (see "Team Novo Nordisk: Insulin 'Doping' Difficult to Prove"). With Lance Armstrong's "fall from grace," however, cycling is now again an EU sport with little hope of reaching as wide a U.S. audience as before.
No problem.
Novo U.S. has open-wheel racecar driver Charlie Kimball as a U.S. sports celebrity spokesperson (see here). Open-wheel racing, however, is not as popular as NASCAR racing in the U.S. Also, Kimball is a type 1 diabetic.
So, it's no wonder that Novo U.S. has launched yet another diabetes campaign featuring a sports "celebrity" with a little more "oomph" in the U.S. sports scene and focuing on type 2 diabetes. That celebrity is two-time NFL Super Bowl Champion and NovoLog® patient Kendall Simmons (see "Novo Nordisk Launches New Program To Recognize People With Type 2 Diabetes Who Give Back To Their Communities"; see here). Simmons will "encourage people to get involved" in the first NovoLog® Community Star contest.
Which leads me to ask: Will Novo air a commercial for the NovoLog® Community Star contest during this year's Super Bowl? "There are so many big companies with ads featuring big name stars debuting during Super Bowl XLVII that it can all get a bit confusing," says the author of a Super Bowl ad preview list (find that list here).
Novo is not on the list just cited, but that doesn't mean it won't run a commercial sometime during, before, or after the Super Bowl. What better audience to reach out to about type 2 diabetes than the "typical" NFL fan and Super Bowl watcher who is gorging him or herself on sugary and high calorie snacks while sitting on the couch watching the game?
On one hand, if Novo does NOT run an ad during the game, it will miss the best possible opportunity this year to raise awareness about type 2 diabetes to the largest U.S (and worldwide) TV audience ever! On the other hand, Novo may agree with former Pfizer exec John LaMattina that TV advertising is bad and should be "dropped" (see here). But LaMattina is/was an R&D guy, not a marketing guy.
Also, TV ads -- especially Super Bowl TV ads -- are very expensive and will probably not be well-received by the public IF it shilled an Rx product. Some currently-employed pharma execs are worried bout the cost and negative effects of pharma marketing and, like Novartis Chief Joseph Jimenez, they suggest that pharma should "spend less money on sales & marketing" (see here). However, even Jimenez might not piss on "disease awareness" marketing, especially in the area of diabetes for which Novartis also has treatments and celebrity spokespersons (see here).
Addendum: I received a comment via email from Sarah Spielvogel, Novo Nordisk Product Communications Manager, who said: "you will not be seeing us during half-time next Sunday." That still leaves upon the possibility that Novo will air a commercial in a less expensive Super Bowl slot such as during the pre-game show or during the first or second half of the game. I'll have to record/watch the whole thing to find out!
Last month it was reported that celebrity chef and paid spokesperson for Novo Nordisk had lost 30 pounds in the six months since she signed on to help promote Novo's diabetes drug, Victoza (see "Paula Deen Loses 30 lbs. Urges Twitter Fans to Pig Out on Fourth of July!"). This was good for Deen and redemption for Novo Nordisk, which was criticized by me and others for choosing Deen -- who is notorious for her high fat, high calories recipes -- as a type 2 diabetes spokesperson (see see, for example, "Paula Deen & Victoza: Brilliant or Dumb?").
So how did Deen lose all that weight? On the ABC food show “The Chew” Deen said: “It’s really about moderation. I’ve said it for so long but I really started to practice that." She also started working out with weights and walking.
Well, I doubt "so long" goes back to before she started collecting money from Novo Nordisk in December, 2011, or thereabouts. I also don't put any stock into her statement: “It took me a couple of years to get to this point" (see "What’s the Secret to Paula Deen’s Weight Loss?"). The fact is, she lost the weight AFTER being signed on as a spokesperson.
Which proves that money is the best incentive for adhering to a healthy lifestyle. If, like Deen, I was paid a substantial amount of money to lose 30 lbs in six months, I have no doubt I could do it. In fact, I have lost 30 pounds in less than 6 months without any monetary rewards. But that's another story; ie, I have since gained back those 30 lbs :-(.
Even rewards as low as $1 or $2 per week can induce ordinary folks like you and me to lose weight. This was demonstrated by a UConn study in which patients who lost "at least a pound in a given week would draw from a prize bowl. The prize bowl contained 500 cards, 250 of which were prizes. Most of the prizes were valued at around $1, and some were of greater value, offering a chance at larger prizes such as an iPod or fitness equipment. The average cost per draw was approximately $2" (see "UConn Researchers Find Incentives Effective for Weight Loss"). Participants in the study also received "supportive counseling," which, I'm sure, Deen also is getting (free of charge?).
Anyhoo, at the end of the 12-week UConn study, the results showed an average weight loss of 6 percent of body weight in the group receiving awards, compared to an average body weight loss of 3.5 percent in the counseling-only group.
Let's do some math. A 6% weight loss for the reward group computes to about 11 lbs for an overweight 180-lb woman. That's over a period of 3 months. In six months, it would be 22 lbs -- pretty close to what Deen lost.
In the UConn study, participants were not guaranteed a reward if they lost weight and the reward was not commensurate with the amount of weight lost -- such a reward system might be unethical and cause people to starve themselves for money. Hopefully, that will not happen with Paula Deen. And hopefully, she, like me, will not gain back her weight when her deal with Novo Nordisk is finished.
My little poll (below) suggests that a plurality (not a majority) of people believe the Novo Nordisk deal with Paula Deen was a "Dumb" idea from a marketing perspective. Many people who were unsure may now think it wasn't such a dumb idea after all. What do you think?
Today, while reading an article about 5 Guys Burgers ("All in the Family") in the August 2012 issue of Forbes Magazine, I came across a reference to Phil Mickelson. In 2010, Mickelson gave a glowing, unprompted endorsement of Five Guys Burgers during a press conference at The Players Championship.
"What I’ve done the last five days, go to Five Guys Burgers. That place is so good. I can’t stop going there. This will be my sixth day in a row. I grew up on In-n-Out. I thought that was the best burger until I had Five Guys. That is hands down the best burger I’ve ever had" (see story here).
A few days later, fellow golfer Stewart Cink, a big fan of In-N-Out, directed this tweet at AP golf writer Doug Ferguson: “Keep in mind, PM owns SoCal rights to FiveGuys. Biased argument?”
[Keep in mind that Cink may shill for In-N-Out - his Twitter profile shows him eating an In-N-Out burger and fires.]
Cink was correct - Mickelson was biased. As reported on CNBC, Gaylord Sports Management, which represents Mickelson, confirmed that Mickelson was in fact part of a group that has purchased the rights for Five Guys franchises in Orange County.
A few months later, during the 2010 PGA Championship, Mickelson again made an "unsolicited" endorsement. This time, it was for ENBREL, the Amgen/Pfizer drug inicated for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis.
The subtitle to a NowPublic article titled "Phil Mickelson Arthritis: Will Play At PGA Whistling Straights", stated "Phil Mickelson Has Psoriatic Arthritis - Uses Enbrel To Help Manage Condition." The article (here) includes this quote from Mickelson: "I have no aches and pains. My back feels great. I feel stronger and more flexible than I've ever been."
Well, the jury is out on whether or not Mickelson was a paid ENBREL celebrity endorser at the time he made that statement. But in a manner similar to his Five Guys Burgers outing by social media, it was later revealed that Mickelson was indeed a paid celebrity spokesperson for ENBREL (see "Phil Mickelson 'Opens Up' to Arthritis Today Magazine"). The Arthritis Today article claims that Mickelson "entered into a partnership with Amgen-Pfizer, an Arthritis Foundation sponsor, in November, 2010." Also see "Amgen Blows Its Marketing Budget on Phil Mickelson Campaign" for the Amgen press release announcing the deal.
As soon as Phil became a PAID spokesperson for ENBREL, he could not say these things because he became an extension of the brand and subject to FDA regulations. But at the time he said the above, I suspect he was giving his future benefactors a freebie! We don't know how long the negotiations were going on before the deal was signed, but this story could have been arranged to seal the deal.
BTW, my sons think Five Guys Burgers are "epic." They ate at a Five Guys joint every week while at Penn State. Of course, they are not paid by Five Guys nor do they own a Five Guys franchise.
So, I'm not saying that Mickelson lied when he said a Five Guys burger was "the best burger I’ve ever had" nor when he said he feels "stronger and more flexible than I've ever been" after taking ENBREL.
My concern is a celebrity who promotes a drug having dangerous side effects without revealing that he may have a financial interest in the product. When Mickelson first made his statements about ENBREL he may or may not have technically signed a contract, but it was obviously meant to get the work -- a demonstration of what he could do. Now that he is featured on ENBREL TV ads, everyone knows he is a paid spokesperson. I have no problem with that, especially that now his commercial speech is regulated by the FDA and he can no longer make outlandish statements.
UPDATE (8/16/2012): In a personal communication, a reader said: "I had to laugh when several times I thought I noticed Phil dropping a right hand wedge into his bag during the TV commercial. But look closely, it's true..." Phil is left-handed, so I guess the director of the commercial used his own clubs as props!
Whilst on the supermarket checkout line, I noticed the cover of the latest, July 9, 2012, People Magazine that featured Paula Deen (see image below). "How I Lost 30 Lbs!" was the headline. Under the banner announcing PAULA'S GET-SLIM RECIPES, the magazine invites us to learn her "secrets": "After diabetes diagnosis, the southern chef finally changed her lifestyle and her pants style. Her secrets will surprise you!"
Deen is really looking good and I cannot wait to discover her "secrets." But, first, I should note that Deen lost those 30 lbs not immediately after she was diagnosed with diabetes over three years ago, but after she signed on with Novo Nordisk to be their diabetes/Victoza spokesperson (see "Paula Deen & Victoza: Brilliant or Dumb?").
Since then Deen and her sons have been creating recipes for "Diabetes Light," a Victoza-branded web site that features "Recipes from Paula with a Dash of Inspiration" (here).
BTW, Novo should get a more recent photo of Deen than the one it currently uses on the "Diabetes Light" website (shown on right). The current one shows a much heavier-looking Deen prior to her recent weight loss.
I wish Deen luck in keeping her weight loss. I know from personal experience that you can lose 25-30 lbs if you change your diet, but quickly gain it back once you regress to your old ways of eating.
Anyway, Paula's "secrets" include these changes in the way she says she eats:
Fried chicken reduction. Deen says she eats fried chicken only once a month.
No key lime pie. She says, “You couldn’t pay me to eat that pie.”
Potato reduction. She has not cut out eating potatoes, but she has cut down on eating them.
Eating vegetable from her own garden and creating healthy recipes.
Butter reduction. She has cut her butter consumption in half.
Eating Greek salads and baked fish.
Meanwhile, however, Deen has been promoting quite a different menu to her 786,000 Twitter followers:
Are y’all ready for Independence Day? Make sure you fix up one of these recipes for the big day! http://ow.ly/bULkY http://ow.ly/i/JuXN
One look at these carbohydrate-rich recipes on PaulaDeen.com and you understand why Novo is not sponsoring Deen's Twitter account:
Sausage and Potato Salad
Chilled Grilled Corn and Watermelon Salad
Lemonade
Curry Chicken Salad
Oven Fried Potato Wedges
Cheesiest Fried Chicken Empanadas with Chili Con Queso Dip
Bacon Wrapped Grilled Corn on the Cob
Watermelon Cooler
I suppose I can eat just one Cheesiest Fried Chicken Empanada with a touch of Chili Con Queso Dip, but how am I supposed to eat just a bit of Bacon Wrapped Grilled Corn on the Cob, which calls for 1 Lb of bacon for 8 ears of corn? That's 2 oz. of bacon (300 calories) per cob, not counting the butter I would likely spread on it!
Pharma Celebrity Multiple Personality Disorder (PCMPD)
In my opinion, this demonstrates what I'd like to call "Pharma Multiple Personality Disorder (PCMPD)" where a celebrity promotes one lifestyle under contract with a pharmaceutical company and then promotes the opposite for other business purposes (eg, as a Food Channel chef).
[Thanks to @Paullikeme from patientslike.com for suggesting MPD -- and not Schizophrenia, as I originally suggested -- as the correct DSM-IV diagnosis.]
The fact that Deen has lost 30 lbs is good news for Novo, which received a lot of criticism for its choice of Deen as a diabetes spokesperson. To date, my little poll (below) suggests that a plurality (if not a majority) of people believe the Novo Nordisk deal with Paula Deen was a "Dumb" idea from a marketing perspective. Many people who were unsure may now think it wasn't such a dumb idea after all. What do you think?
Meanwhile, I invite you to listen to this conversation with Ambre Morley, Associate Director, Product Communications, Novo Nordisk, about why her company teamed up with celebrity chef Paula Deen as a spokesperson for type 2 diabetes treatment:
Is Deen Positioning Herself as a Potential CHANTIX Spokesperson?
I just picked up a copy of People magazine and learned that "Paula's Next Challenge: [is] Quitting Smoking." She says she "thinks about quitting every day...My husband has quit for over a year now. Maybe one day I'll be ready. I pray that I will," said Deen.
If past experience is any guide, Deen will be "ready to quit" as soon as she closes a deal with Pfizer to be its CHANTIX celebrity spokesperson!
Today Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) sent out this tweet: "We have just launched a new #hcsm activity within Facebook....want to find out more? Check out all the details here http://t.co/gwLgMe0D"
The link leads to "COPD Inspirations - The BIG Picture," a FaceBook page that encourages fans to submit images that reflect "the positive fight against COPD and will inspire others to take back control of their lives. So to get involved 'get creative, get emotive, get artistic!' and upload your image," says BI.
Recently, BI handed over the keys to its public health initiative, Drive4COPD, to the non-profit COPD Foundation (see here). That initiative features racecar driver/celebrity Danica Patrick who is more well-known as a swimsuit model and expletive-deleted competitor (see "Pharma Celebrity Spokespersons: Unrepentant, Secretive, and (Expletive Deleted)!").
BI's new Facebook-based COPD awareness initiative/campaign may signal a trend away from the use of paid celebrities to the exploitation of real patients, who will not receive any compensation whatsoever for the use of their images and stories. BI will, however, offer entrants a chance to win an iPad 2. (Why not a third-generation iPad? Perhaps BI has a surfeit of iPad 2's they need to get rid of.)
Here are the eligibility requirements:
Entrants must be aged 18 or over.
Entrants cannot be employees of Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), or respective affiliate companies / be an employee of any pharmaceutical company
Entrants must have a personal connection to COPD – i.e. either have the disease themselves, or be a carer / friend / family member of someone who has or has previously suffered with COPD.
Oh, I forgot to mention one other criterium for eligibility: you must be a Fan of BI on Facebook. So BI gets new fans and free images for its COPD campaign. Sweet!
Since I was eligible -- my mother-in-law, Irene, has COPD -- I thought I'd submit an entry and see what happens. It was pretty easy. I had a photo of Irene that I think is inspirational (see below):
Along with an image, BI requires entrants to submit an "inspirational" comment, so I wrote: "COPD does not stop my Mom-in-Law, Irene, from enjoying the beautiful world around her, especially when she is with her family. Her daughter, Debbie, took this photo while they hiked in Pine Creek Gorge, commonly referred to as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania."
While I was at it, I also posted the photo to my Facebook page (BI's terms and conditions have no qualms about me using my photo elsewhere). The terms, however, do state: "Each entrant grants a worldwide licence to BI to use the images in any way the companies deem fit (e.g. to feature any or all of the submitted images on their websites and/or in any materials it develops for media, HCPs or patients, with acknowledgement of the entrant. Images will be used by BI to highlight understanding and awareness of COPD. Again, the entrant may be contacted to provide further background to the imagery and will be notified ahead of use)."
The competition opened today and will close on the 18th July 2012. So, hurry, and enter those photos or other creative images TODAY!
New prescriptions written per month for Victoza -- diabetes treatment sold by Novo Nordisk -- have leveled off just after Novo signed on celebrity chef Paula Deen as a spokesperson. Prescriptions for the drug were rising steadily for a year and a half prior to that.
The two events may be coincidental (and the flattening may be temporary), but interesting nevertheless because it puts a hole in the theory that the return on celebrity endorsements of pharma products is worth the investment.
The Victoza Rx data comes from a chart I found in the petition filed by Public Citizen with the FDA that asked the agency to withdraw Victoza because of increased risks that patients may developed pancreatitis, serious allergic reactions and kidney failure (find the petition here).
The chart shows a plot of "Number of Prescriptions" of Victoza (liraglutide) versus Byetta (exenatide), a competing drug marketed by Amylin (see below):
It appears that the number of (new) prescriptions written per month has leveled off at about 150,000 -- a number that has not increased since about January 2012 when Novo announced that Deen would be a spokesperson (see "My Bad! Paula Dean Shills for Novo Nordisk, Not Novartis").
In its petition, Public Citizen states "As can be seen by subsequent FDA safety alerts issued for acute pancreatitis, thyroid toxicity, and kidney failure over liraglutide’s first year and a half of marketing, warnings have not succeeded in preventing serious adverse reactions. This is especially unfortunate because diabetics are already at increased risk for pancreatic and kidney toxicity. ... The number of prescriptions for liraglutide has been steadily rising, putting increasing numbers of patients at risk of adverse reactions to this drug. The increase in adverse reactions is seen in the continuing reports in the FDA’s database, making it clear that the FDA’s use of warnings is not sufficient protection."
Public Citizen, however, does not report that based on post-marketing data, BYETTA has also been "associated with acute pancreatitis, including fatal and non-fatal hemorrhagic or necrotizing pancreatitis" according to the safety information that is part of its "package insert."
A couple of questions:
Will this new focus on Victoza safety information scare Paula Deen?
Can she discontinue taking Victoza if she felt it was necessary or would her contract with Novo prevent her from doing that (she does take other medications to control her diabetes)?
When asked "How high was that blood sugar reading?" during a routine doctor visit more than 3 years ago, Deen said "I don't know. They just said it was high." Then her doctor said, "I'm going to start you on some medicine," and wham, bam, thank y'all ma'am, Deen started her secret life as a diabetic.
Furthermore, Deen does not remember her doctor saying anything about lifestyle changes. "Now, she might have," said Deen diplomatically, "but I don't recall coming out of that visit with a lot of literature. She just started me on the drug."
It's hard to believe any doctor worthy of treating a wealthy celebrity would not have given her a bit more education regarding living with diabetes. One important bit of education is "Know Your Blood Sugar Levels." That's the title of a National Institutes of Health National Diabetes Education Program pamphlet (see here). "If you have diabetes," says NIH, "keeping your blood glucose (sugar) numbers in your target range can help you feel good today and stay healthy in the future."
After Novo Nordisk approached her to be a spokesperson, Deen "asked the doctor if I could switch over from the [combo drug]" to Victoza. Of course, her doctor complied because Deen knows best, although she doesn't know her numbers (or choses not to say what they are). Or perhaps the doctor was also "approached" by Novo Nordisk.
Whatever! Deen is now taking not only Victoza but also metformin and "a small dose of Actos." I'm not an expert on diabetes treatments, but because Deen is on multiple drugs and because she hasn't revealed her initial high blood glucose reading, we will never know if Victoza is really helping her control her diabetes.
Deen has the right to keep her blood glucose levels and other medical information confidential. She also has the right not to reveal how much money Novo Nordisk is paying her. "I am being compensated for my time and work," said Deen.
But should pharmaceutical companies be required to reveal how much they pay celebrity spokespeople just as they are now required to reveal how much they pay physicians (celebrities or otherwise)? If Nike reveals that it paid Tiger Woods $105 million, why shouldn't pharma companies reveal how much they pay celebrities (including Phil Mickelson who is a paid ENBREL spokesperson; see here)? What are they hiding?
BTW, there seems to be a pattern of pharmaceutical celebrity spokespeople defending themselves in consumer magazines like Prevention. Mickelson, for example, "opened up" in an interview published in Arthritis Today (see "Phil Mickelson 'Opens Up" to Arthritis Today Magazine").
Of course, these magazines also make a lot of money from drug advertising. In fact, there is a nice 2-page ad spread for Victoza featuring Paula Deen in the same issue of Prevention as her less than "tell all" interview. In the ad, Deen is NOT depicted creating her famous bacon, cheeseburger, Krsipy Creme donut sandwich! (See the video of THAT here).
In a recent survey, I asked respondents to say whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: "Each pharmaceutical company should be required by law to publicly disclose how much money it pays every celebrity for being a spokesperson." 38% (N=112) said they "strongly agreed, " another 21% said the "somewhat agreed," and 36% said they strongly or somewhat disagreed.
One pharmaceutical company employee respondent made this comment: "What is the point of all this pharma reporting? If I tell you that Paula Deen is making $10M or $1M, what difference does it make? I'm sure she's making a lot of money. But that is driven by her market worth and the specifics of the contract (length of contract, number of events, etc.). There's no realistic way for the public to understand (or care about) that context. So what is the point?"
