)tember 9, It
tesday • September 9, 1997
O The Battalion
PINION
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tics, Montreal
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ardinals, Florida J
y Devil Raysandli
ton Astros,
nt of the fans said
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igs. Seventeen
ngs made them
id 42 percent sai
rence.
en National le:
atening to bloci
Ve got a new drug
'harmaceutical industry relies on propaganda, not product information, for sales
m the other league
percent of fans
etting sick
-used to be a
pain in the
|s, the head or
terever else, but a
w breed of mass
edia prescription
^position has fe ug advertisements
ington to considei ikes illness seem
isals, in which fe e something to be
would shift. ppy about,
play, which last) Unfortunately, the
irst season, wasati >ss and goofiness
h team played 15t the new ads has
games thisyearag ueezed out some of the medical rigor.
Jeremy
Valdez
columnist
One of the best examples of this new
nd is the marketing campaign for Pfizer
f
P 1
be more interim larmaceuticals’new drug Zyrtec. Prime-
ear and 9 percent m TV viewers have probably seen this
be fewer. Forty-s? mmercial where a guy is climbing a
lie total should re: - sa an d yells “ZYRTEC!” when he gets to
top.
I A bold narrator says something like
his year you’re going to discover some-
fng BIG. VERY BIG. If you’d like more in
itiation about how you might use pre-
from Page? Icription Zyrtec call 1-800-BIG-8989.” The
made me watdi*^ P ro bl em is the commercial never
d to practiceal- If 5 what Z y rtec is used t0 treat -
r. I hated it." I Tae sac charin recording on the toll-
ce her father’s ^ ee num t>er doesn’t say either. Based on
dedication to he® mountain climbing metaphor and the
paid off. II |>nstant references to “BIG”, I guessed
| one of th r th at Zyrtec was eitlier an anti-depressant,
players on Bonstipation drug or something that
soccer team Bikes people large.
On the Bh took a trip to the Internet at
Bowedoesn Bvvv.zyrtec.com to find that Zyrtec is ac-
sider hersetfuallya prescription antihistamine. So
y doesn’t the commercial say what the
ig is for?
t best, its a fumble on the part of the
ertising agency; the ad writers may
e simply forgot to include a vital piece
nformation. However, considering the
irmous amounts of money and atten-
|n that get poured into a national prime-
e commercial, it’s more likely the
ission was a calculated maneuver.
scorer? She
her role as
a disher
sets the ball
scorer. She:
to play
lay.
e really good tei
trope,” Bowesaid.
re no professi]
;uesin ihc‘United$i|p er | ia p S advertisers thought that
ut a lack of 'v'MJwers who don’t usually take prescrip-
oi stopped her bel| n antihistamines would mentally dis-
she may decide» , thc commercial if , h were u ; ld of
J.S. Mens soccer tr drug . spurpose
- :BVitli its teasing strategy Pfizer stands
u t ^ led more Zyrtec to garden variety
ch f h nc tI 0, . te<le "'|.S-<ih4 dr iacs who warn to try the latest
ai the HusKershaMg re gardless of what it treats, and grab
t only conference^ names Q f thousands of potential cus-
season, includin^ niers f or a mailing list.
) overtime loss in|g
ipionship game,
leduled for 1 p.m
ccer Complex.
And the next time one of those thou
sands gets a sniffle that might respond just
fine to some non-prescription pill or even
chicken soup, he or she will have a slick
color brochure and maybe a pen or some
sticky notes with the Zyrtec logo to remind
which drug is best, er... best promoted.
Dr. Norma Porres, a physician at A.P.
Beutel Health Center, said that Zyrtec is a
very good antihistamine, but that pre
scription drug advertisements are part of
an attempt to usurp the responsibilities
that doctors have traditionally held in ad
vocating new medicines.
Just a few years ago, pharmaceutical
companies would give untold millions of
dollars worth of drug samples to doctors
for free distribution. Porres said that the
free samples were of great benefit to elder
ly patients and others on fixed incomes.
But drug development costs continue
to soar, and pharmaceutical companies
produce hundreds of new competing
drugs each year. So drug companies have
found a way to increase revenues by giv
ing away less product in doctors’ offices
and taking their brand names straight to
the public in the form of advertisements.
In a world where Zyrtec, Allegra and
Claritin compete for the same Kleenex-tot-
ing, phlegm-wheezing masses, it’s every
lab for itself, and the gloves have come off.
The drug companies are getting greedy.
And in a capitalistic society, that’s won
derful. If it wasn’t for greedy drug manu
facturers, there would be no new medi
cines and the standard treatment for
hypertension would still involve leeches.
But too many drug companies are
crossing the line with advertisements that
create confusion and base curiosity in the
general public. Furthermore, ridiculous
commercials like the one for Zyrtec seem
to be saying “Hey! We’ve got a new drug
and maybe you’re lucky enough to have
the right disease!”
Last month’s U. Magazine had an ad for
Tri-Cycline, an Ortho Pharmaceuticals
drug that has been proven to fight acne.
Since it’s a birth control pill, it also pre
vents ovulation.
Tri-Cycline can help make you more at
tractive, and its contraceptive side effects
will protect you from the consequences of
your increased social interaction!
Commercial fluff shouldn’t attempt to
substitute for a good doctor’s opinion, but
the ads often produce unnecessary pres
sure on doctors to prescribe one drug over
another.
“Patients come in and ask for a drug,”
Porres said. “And, where it isn’t contraindi
cated, we try to please.” She has already
had one confused patient ask for a Zyrtec
prescription to treat his depression.
So should the same government that
killed Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man
work to further regulate the advertising of
prescription drugs? No. Such regulation
would probably be ineffective and would
only fuel unproductive arguments over
the sanctity of the First Amendment.
The best answer is a return to good, old
fashioned shame. Shame on Pfizer for ad
vertising a drug without saying what it’s
for. Shame on Ortho for trying to push a
contraceptive as an acne drug.
Until American consumers demand
that drug commercials convey more infor
mation than propaganda, we’ll be subject
ed to ads that not only insult our intelli
gence, but trivialize our health.
It’s enough to keep you up at night. But
don’t worry too much, because it’s only a
matter of time before Madison Avenue
starts pimping Benadryl as a sleep aid.
Jeremy Valdez is a senior
chemical engineering major.
a special notfj
Jations are in on
G. Guerrieri and!
hey are the prone
mily Marie Guerrj
ild, born onAui
ation.
Environmental extremists rely
n scare tactics and junk science
Donny
Ferguson
columnist
iternational
)E
he Earth will fry because our
ozone layer is disappearing!
Polluted water turns people
luo criminals! Species are going
Ixtinct left and right! Doomsday
Icientists are back in the news
nd the newest ecological crisis is
te most ridiculous yet.
The Institute for Climate Im
pact Research in Potsdam, Ger-
Ihant has concluded Northern Eu-
rppe will suddenly freeze, because
(jf global warming.
I According to research per-
fprmed by a group of European environmental-
lilts, the broiling temperatures which may occur
due to greenhouse gases will result in a “sudden
freeze” of Northern Europe. In keeping with con-
tfemporary environmentalism, scientists are urg-
|ipg governments to pass massive new legislation
ami send them millions of dollars as soon as pos
sible. Scientists want world leaders to act without
giving any thought as to whether the group is
right because if they delay, the Earth may sudden-
!>' be destroyed.
I Our planet is under assault and the time has
Come to save the Earth from environmental
lunacy.
1 When asked just how serious the “heat-in
duced freezing” problem is, the German group’s
Stefan Rahmstorf said, “...we cannot calculate
that risk.” In other words, “I dunno.” “I can
promise that in 10 years we will know a lot more
about it,” Rahmstorf concluded. Again, he
ipeans, “We’re just guessing here, but send us
money anyway in the unlikely event we’re right.”
The Institute should focus its attention on late-
light infomercial suckers. The we’re-going-to-
freeze-because-of-heat movement is typical of
every environmentalist scare campaign preceding
it. Environmental extremists start with a theory,
either create evidence or distort fact, scare people
into believing them and urge lawmakers to pass
the legislation they want.
1 Environmentalists have spent the past two
decades bludgeoning the public into believing
“the Earth is fragile” and the only way to save
mankind from imminent destruction is to fight
technology and capitalism. These apocalyptic
Statements are often based on junk science or
outright assumptions, usually to either influence
iwmakers or rake in more grant money. Two re
cent studies in particular show environmental ex
tremism for what it is, a ilimsy, pseudo-science
quickly going the way of the dodo to extinc-
The currently popular ozone hole hysteria
and its “Northern European freeze” offspring
are classic cases in environmentalism’s junk
science birth and mass hysteria effects. The
Earth’s ozone hole was first identified in the
early 1900s, decades before the production of
chlorofluorocarbons. Anyone bold enough to
question how a heavy, sinking gas which
quickly drops to the ground can affect a four
billion year old ozone layer miles in the
stratosphere is shouted down as an unfeeling
eco-villain. Even more interesting is the fact
that minor volcanic eruptions emit thousands
of times the amount of CFCs mankind has ever
produced. The Mount Pinatubo eruption in the
Philippines did just that, the result was a possible,
minor fluctuation in ozone levels, but no perma
nent damage occurred. After four billion years of
cataclysmic volcanic eruptions, which have
dumped more CFCs into our atmosphere than
mankind will ever release, our ozone level still
holds.
Researchers at Tulane University are not faring
much better than their CFC-banning comrades.
The university recently retracted a June 1996
study claiming a “synergy effect” among ordinary
pesticides, which supposedly causes mutations
and boosts estrogen levels. The report received
national attention as it influenced state and fed
eral legislation and sent environmentalists into a
more frantic panic than usual.
The apocalyptic study claims male alligators in
a Florida lake exposed to pesticides suffer with
ered reproductive organs and estrogen levels
equal to female alligators. A senior Tulane re
searcher has humbly withdrawn the study, as re
sults could not be reproduced in other experi
ments.
Junk science like this has become a trademark
of the environmentalist fringe. They attempt to
terrify those who cannot be influenced by com
mon-sense conservation groups like Ducks Un
limited with Chicken Little claims of certain de
struction. Embarrassments like the alar pesticide
scare, the “population bomb,” global cooling sup
posedly caused by global warming and other foul-
ups are relegating environmental extremists to
the endangered list.
Our fantastic planet and mankind’s way of life
are indeed in danger. Not by CFCs, automobiles
or Styrofoam coolers, but by a horde of ecological
terrorists who seek to pervert American life
through junk science.
Donny Ferguson is a junior political science
major.
America On Line subject to
same laws as other forums
A
sk the average independent
netzien, or net-citizen,
.their
Stephen
Llano
columnist
opinion of
America On
Line, the
mega-corpo
rate Internet
service
provider, and
usually some
sort of vio
lent response
of disgust
will be im
mediate.
America On Line, however
cheesy or mainstream it has be
come to the regulars on-line, has
provided society with the one
thing it needs to properly deal with
the Internet: A very public forum.
Throughout history, Ameri
cans have relied on public fo
rums as the standard methodolo
gy to work through issues that
confront everyone.
The newspapers carried the
debate on ratification of the Con
stitution, the radio carried Presi
dent Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s
weekly messages to people hard
hit in the Great Depression and
television brought the war in
Vietnam from the eastern hemi
sphere to the living room.
Of course, no such monumen
tal event has been carried by the
still young Internet. At best, the
Internet is in toddler phase, pos
sibly entering what many parents
refer to as “the terrible twos.”
Yes, the Internet is finally get
ting the gumption to challenge
some of the rules that have been
left undefined in the flurry of
electronic haste and excitement.
America On Line has been the
unlucky pioneer of defining what
unlimited access means, as well as
forcing local phone companies to
deal with an increase in additional
phone lines reserved for the
newest resident, the computer.
America On Line’s national ad
vertising campaigns, ease of use,
pretty colors and graphics and
spoon-fed Internet access have
allowed the same people with a
VCR continually flashing the
time as noon to surf right along
side the superuser.
This large clientele also comes
with a large amount of attention,
as Internet gossip columnist
Matt Drudge recently discovered.
Currently, Drudge is in the
middle of a $30 million lawsuit
for defamation due to a column
claiming, “New White House re
cruit Sidney Blumenthal has a
spousal abuse past that has been
effectively covered up.”
The allegation was completely
untrue, and the libel suit was
quick in coming even though
Drudge pulled the column 24
America On Line has been
the unlucky pioneer of
defining what unlimited
access means...
hours after it ran and apologized.
If this was a newspaper, it
would be a cut and dried case.
The concept of being able to pull
a libelous writing right off of the
means of publication is pretty
much science fiction in the con
text of current print libel laws.
But the question remains:
What is America On Line?
As a service provider to Inter
net access, the company basically
takes users to a certain informa
tion destination.
Logically, much like an airline,
they would be held responsible if
something went wrong during
transit, but passengers are on
their own when they reach the
destination.
As for dangerous destinations,
the Federal Aviation Administra
tion regulates which airlines and
airports are viable for U.S. citizens
to use or select as a destination.
But for netziens, the Supreme
Court’s striking down of the Com
munications Decency Act has set
the awesome precedent of regu
latory protection.
But this law really applies to
the Internet as a whole, and
America On Line also provides
in-house prepared content for
subscribers. This is getting foggy.
According to a report in the
Washington Post, Blumenthal be
lieves that America On Line is a
publisher in this respect, and
should be handled as such.
As far as information that
America On Line produces exclu
sively for members, it is acting in
the capacity as a publisher.
It is irrelevant whether said
content appears in physical print
or not. If it is accessible to read
ers, it doesn’t matter if it can be
magically wiped out or not.
People are going to have to
drop the mythical status associat
ed with the Internet. As more
people sign on and discover the
ease of up-to-the-minute news
and information on every subject
imaginable, the seriousness of
accuracy has to come to light.
Just as in the past, the transi
tion from town crier or local pub
for news to print as the literacy
rate increased, the computer lit
eracy rate will spur people to de
mand stricter interpretations of
libel and defamation with regard
to electronic media.
This case has yet to be decided
within the court. In the minds of
many, America On Line has al
ready been judged as the vehicle
of the masses, not to be consid
ered by the serious computer
user as a valid means to access
the Internet.
But as more people are intro
duced to the Internet, and em
brace it as a primary source of in
formation, there can be no
choice for the courts than to de
mand revision in our outdated,
print view of defamation.
Stephen Llano is a senior
history major.