Monday, April 8, 2013

Side Effects Peer Pressure

I keep seeing pharmaceutical ads where they totally ruin the whole sell by proclaiming all the potential negative side effects. Why would anyone want to buy these drugs if that’s possible? Oh, but what if they used peer pressure in the ads? They could say something like: “Side effects may include (blah, blah, blah), but that’s cool if you can’t handle it. All the cool people are taking it, but whatever. No, really, if you’re too much of a pansy to handle it, then forget it: don’t buy it. But your doctor will know why you’re not asking for it, and he/she’ll make fun of you behind your back. But don’t let that deter you from telling everyone that you’re not tough enough to handle the side effects. Whatever, loser!” Then surely everyone would take the drugs no matter what the side effects, right? (Hey, it works in high school and college with alcohol and drugs.)