Drug Companies Express Increased Interest in Rx Product Placement

More agencies are coming out of the closet on the issue of doing product placement for pharmaceutical brands. I had a chat with Scott Tanenbaum, svp/director of client service of GSW, on the subject recently.

GSW handled the branded entertainment effort for Roche’s Tamiflu, which included a tie-in with the movie Happy Feet. The dancing penguins from the flick also appeared in Tamiflu ads.

But the drug itself was not named in the movie.

However, other drug companies have dipped their toes in the product placement water, including Dey Pharma for EpiPen; and Organon's Nuvaring and J&J's Remicade.

The moves are controversial because the FDA has never explicitly approved or disapproved of product placement for Rx brands. In my opinion, the FDA has made it pretty clear that it’s looking at major TV and print ads, and has neither the sophistication nor the resources to look at anything else. Thus, the FDA’s unofficial position is, “You might as well try this because we’re not looking at it.”

Tanenbaum thinks it is a matter of time before drug companies find a way to do product placements, especially on a show like House, where the script can get into enough detail to handle the fair balance risk/side-effect information.

My Q&A with Tanenbaum continues after the jump.

Are any drugs being placed in movies or TV right now? “Some of it is probably being done under the radar,” he said, but the “regulatory hurdles are yet to be overcome.”

Given the amount of risk information a drug promotion must generally contain, is it possible to do a Rx product placement? “We have a responsibility to be safe,” he said “but that doesn’t mean we can’t be creative…this right now is uncharted territory for the industry.”

What about something like the TV show House, where side effects are often discussed? “Absolutely. There are creative ways of doing it.”

Is GSW actively looking for product placement opportunities for Rx brands? “We’re looking for all sorts of opportunities,” he said but declined to name names due to NDA agreements. However, “We’ve seen Tamiflu posters on ER sets before,” he said. “We had nothing to do with it.”

Is the FDA aware that drug companies are looking into this? “They sat through our meetings [at the DTC National conference] they saw the same things I did. It’s out there. It’s not under the radar,” but, he added, “there has to be transparency.”

Are patients and consumers ready to accept commercial messages for drugs inside Hollywood scripts? “It’s and ongoing evolution…there’s been a backlash—rightly so—against DTC [with its] ‘four-hour erection’ ads—it’s deserved.” But, he said, “If you recognize the limits and play within the lines” then it can be done.

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