Since the late 1990s, drug companies have spent tens of billions of dollars on television ads, drumming up demand for their products with cheerful jingles and scenes of dancing patients.
The U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements. In the U.S., television viewers are subjected to an especially increasing volume of drug commercials. In 1996, $550 million was spent by pharmaceutical companies on drugs ads. That number increased more than 10-fold by 2020, reaching $6.58 billion annually.
It’s been a long time since I watched TV here in Brazil, but as far as I know, there are prescription drug ads here too. One brand that suddenly comes to mind is a known painkiller (acetylsalicylic acid), I remember seeing a lot of ads from them during commercial breaks back when I watched TV.
Those ads used to be followed by a quickly-spoken (so fast that it was almost unintelligible) disclaimer “Esse medicamento não deve ser usado em caso de suspeita de dengue. Se persistirem os sintomas o médico deverá ser consultado.” (English translation: “this medication shouldn’t be taken in cases of suspected dengue fever. If the symptoms persist, see a doctor”).
https://healthpolicy.usc.edu/article/should-the-government-restrict-direct-to-consumer-prescription-drug-advertising-six-takeaways-from-research-on-the-effects-of-prescription-drug-advertising/
It’s been a long time since I watched TV here in Brazil, but as far as I know, there are prescription drug ads here too. One brand that suddenly comes to mind is a known painkiller (acetylsalicylic acid), I remember seeing a lot of ads from them during commercial breaks back when I watched TV.
Those ads used to be followed by a quickly-spoken (so fast that it was almost unintelligible) disclaimer “Esse medicamento não deve ser usado em caso de suspeita de dengue. Se persistirem os sintomas o médico deverá ser consultado.” (English translation: “this medication shouldn’t be taken in cases of suspected dengue fever. If the symptoms persist, see a doctor”).
Acetylsalicylic acid is Aspirin, which normally is sold without prescription.
With the rest of the world OTC medication is still advertised, in US though they also advertise medicine that you need your doctor to prescribe.
The ubiquity of the phrase “ask your doctor if x is right for you” in advertising here is gross.