Fear Sells! Just Ask My Sorority!

  Today's (or tonight's) post starts with a confession.  I watch "90210" :)  No, my Tivo is not set to it, but I started watching it when I discovered an actress (unknown at the time) I did a film with last year, had joined the main cast.  So, I'll blame it on Gillian Zinser that when I'm working out and need a brainless, visual distraction, I'll watch an episode online.  


Watching episodes of anything online, means you're going to watch a commercial at every break. Often it's the same damn commercial or at least the same advertiser.  And catering to 90210's young, female audience, the wizards at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, took this brilliant opportunity to sling their vaccine Cervarix, with a fear-based advertising campaign.  Scenarios were about the same, a young, pretty girl answers the phone, "Where's Julie?"...  "Oh, she's in bad shape, she's not coming out tonight."...  "What a wimp!" ... "She found out she has cervical cancer.  She's only 25.  They don't think she can have kids."  Followed by sad silence.  


OK, don't get me wrong, I'm all for getting vaccinations that you and your doctor think are right for you.  But this vaccine protects women against HPV (Human Papillomavirus).  It's funny, too... a similar vaccine Gardisil from Merck, approved in 2006, used commercials with happy mothers and daughters, who preached getting vaccinated for protection from HPV.  Why does GSK need to go so far to compete as to use the ultimate buzz word, cancer?  


HPV in some cases leads to cervical cancer.  I had HPV.  In fact, all of my girlfriends have had HPV.  Weird?  No!  Over 80 percent of women get HPV.  Bottom line, there's a long road between having HPV and that actually going untreated long enough, to actually go through all the four stages of precancerous HPV, to actually leading to cervical cancer.  It can take YEARS.  And, if detected with a pap smear, it's 100% treatable.  In most cases, the HPV just goes away by itself. 


Taken directly from the CDC's website:


 Most people with HPV do not develop symptoms or health problems from it. In 90% of cases, the body’s immune system clears HPV naturally within two years.  


Each year, about 12,000 women get cervical cancer in the U.S.


According to www.cancer.org, Cervical Cancer tends to occur in midlife, so it's pretty doubtful too many of those 12,000 women, were off to their 24th birthday party when they got the news.  


If GlaxoSmithKline were running a PSA on abstinence, I'd say, awesome!  Good for you!  Looking out for today's youth!  But GSK is a profit-driven entity, looking out for themselves, using fear tactics to make money.  Cervarix costs $385 for a three-dose series.  


This is a medical decision, not one that should be inspired by an ad agency's clever terror techniques.