Athletes, Celebrities Endorse Pharmaceuticals

N E W  Y O R K, Jan. 2, 2001 -- 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.”

Kelly Smith Tunney, director of corporate communications for TheAP, said the wire service also questions the news value of suchpromotional stories. In instances where an endorser’s comments arejudged newsworthy, “it is the reporter’s responsibility to ask ifhe or she is paid by the manufacturer of the product and to includethat information in the story. You can be certain we’ll be morevigilant in the future.”

Nancy Ostrove, a senior official at the Food and DrugAdministration’s division of drug marketing, advertising andcommunications, said the agency has received no complaints aboutlack of disclosure regarding celebrities working as spokesmen.

Pfizer spokeswoman Celeste Torello said the commercialrelationship between the company and hired celebrities is madeclear to journalists.

“It’s really then up to the journalists to decide in the finalstory how much or how little of that relationship to mention,” shesaid.

Merck Used Celebrities in Six Campaigns

Pfizer has paid Krone, a top jockey who retired last year afterstruggling with depression, to promote Zoloft, an antidepressantshe takes. Profiles of Krone and her struggles appeared in severalnews outlets, including The AP.

Merck & Co., in another campaign, paid former athletes BruceJenner and Dorothy Hamill to give numerous interviews to newsorganizations last fall and discuss Vioxx, an anti-inflammatorymedicine they use to treat arthritis. Several newspapers and TVnews shows did stories on one or both of them.

Conner, Jenner, Hamill, Puckett and Krone did not return callsseeking comment.

Chris Fanelle, Merck’s director of public affairs, said thecompany used celebrities in six campaigns last year to raiseawareness of health issues, compared with one or two campaigns eachof the previous six years.

Other celebrity campaigns included a high cholesterol awarenesscampaign involving former quarterback Joe Montana and former coachBill Parcells.