Pfizer uses fake drug shock tactics in the UK

The UK unit of global behemoth Pfizer has launched a hard-hitting advertising campaign in cinemas designed to shock people into paying  attention to the threat of counterfeit drugs. The campaign, which  includes the image of a man swallowing a tablet before pulling out a rat  by the tail from his mouth, is a "unique groundbreaking initiative,"  according the joint statement by the company and its partners:  government regulator the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory  Agency (MHRA); The Patients Association; the Men's Health Forum; and  cholesterol campaign group HEART UK.

A spokeswoman for Pfizer told the Marketletter that the decision to  launch the UK-specific advertisement, which can only be shown to movie  audiences aged 15 or over, was taken in response to a survey conducted  by the Men's Health Forum, which found that one in 10 UK men had bought  pharmaceutical products on-line. Another survey, conducted for the Royal  Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, found 7% of respondents buy  prescription medicines via the Internet (Marketletter January 21,2008).