Pharma Lobbyists Launch Million Dollar Ad Campaign Directly Targeting Politicians
Everett Numbers
(ANTIMEDIA) Washington, D.C. — Amid
growing outrage and debate over prescription drug pricing, two lobbyist
groups — the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)
— plan to spend millions of dollars on feel-good advertising. Designed
for politicians, not patients, the ads will be seen in Washington, D.C.
and on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, according to The Boston Globe.
PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry’s largest trade group, will spend
over $1 million on digital, radio, and print ads, while BIO, the
equivalent for the biotechnology industry, will spend hundreds of
thousands of dollars boosting its own promotional video, The Globe
reports. BIO senior vice president Ken Lisaius said the two campaigns
were not coordinated, though each group knew the other’s timing for
release.
The ostensible point of the campaigns is to foster debate over high
drug prices, however, neither group actually mentions pricing. Rather,
the messaging alludes to the benefits of prescription drugs, such as
family members living longer.
In a PhRMA ad called “Time is precious,” the narrator soothes, “Another
decade with a spouse, a few more years with your best friend, a rich
full life rather than one cut short. How do we place value on these?
Today’s breakthrough medicines are delivering more than stunning
outcomes, more than cures. They are giving us hope.”
