5 chapters across the catalog
HPV Vaccine School Requirements and Marketing Critique
New legislation in New York and other regions will require students to receive the HPV vaccine for school attendance. The hosts question the marketing claims that 80% of the population will contract the virus and express concern over government-mandated injections for a non-airborne disease.
HPV Vaccine, Gardasil, Pharmaceutical Marketing Tactics
A 30-second commercial for the HPV vaccine is analyzed for its use of parental guilt to drive medical decisions. By not naming the specific drug Gardasil, the manufacturer avoids the legal requirement to list side effects like Guillain-Barre syndrome. The advertisement focuses on the potential for future cancer diagnoses in children whose parents opt out of the vaccination.
A new study published in "The Lancet" promotes the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine for teenagers, which is covered as a news segment on CBS. The hosts argue the segment functions as a "commercial within a commercial," ignoring reported side effects of Gardasil while targeting girls as young as 11 for vaccination.
Law and Order Product Placement, Gardasil Vaccine Marketing
The hosts describe a recent episode of "Law & Order" featuring a storyline about the papilloma virus as a form of pharmaceutical product placement. They compare this to elaborate marketing packages for the Gardasil vaccine found on college campuses. The segment argues that television networks integrate drug promotion directly into scripts to serve their advertisers.
Gardasil Vaccine Safety and Merck Marketing
The safety of the Gardasil HPV vaccine is questioned following reports of deaths and adverse reactions in the UK and US. The vaccine is described as a high-priced "money scheme" by Merck to address patent expirations, with criticism directed at the aggressive marketing of the drug to 12-year-old girls through schools.
