Athletes, Celebrities Endorse Pharmaceuticals
N E W Y O R K, Jan. 2 -- Pharmaceutical companies are increasinglyturning to a tactic that gets them news coverage of new drugs —paying famous athletes and other celebrities to tell reporters about their struggles with illness.
Former baseball star Kirby Puckett discussing his glaucoma.Gymnast Bart Conner, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist, describing hispainful arthritis on Good Morning America. Jockey Julie Krone talking about depression.
These and other human-interest stories have raised concerns thatcommercial messages are getting slipped into news stories.
Unlike celebrity endorsements, the marketing campaigns are aimedat the news sections of newspapers and TV.
Not Always Clear Celebrities Are Paid
Some of the work resembles public service campaigns, in which acelebrity talks about a problem without referring to a drug. But inother cases, celebrities are hired to mention specific drugs ininterviews.
It is not always apparent that they are being paid, said NancyChockley, president of the National Institute for Health CareManagement in Washington.
“It’s complicated because you want to get attention about acondition,” she said. “But really what’s happening is they’re selling drugs, so it is somewhat insidious. We know it’s effective, but we also know that it’s confusing.”
In one campaign, Conner was paid to discuss how he was treatinghis osteoarthritis with Celebrex, made by Pfizer and G.D. Searle &Co. Several news stories, including articles in the New York DailyNews and The Associated Press and an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, did not make clear that Conner was paid.
ABC spokesman Todd Polkes said the network was unaware ofConner’s agreement before the interview. “We are very diligentabout disclosing information like this on the air, and in thiscase, unfortunately it slipped through the cracks,” he said.
A Daily News spokesman, Ken Frydman, said his newspaperdiscourages promotional stories, “but every once in awhile acommercial reference finds its way into print.”
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