How the elderly are portrayed in drug commercials

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by dead of night, Jun 23, 2020.

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  1. dead of night

    dead of night Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Northern Va, usa
    In various commercials on tv for drugs treating COPD, Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, incontinence, dementia, and other elderly diseases, the senior citizen actors are interesting.

    They are the perfect grandparent, active, playing with the grandkids, pushing a swing, shooting a layup, dancing, doing a perfect backflip off the diving board.

    Most importantly, they must be cheerful, not depressed. They are happily married, surrounded by family, friends, beautiful lakes, homes, spacious golf courses. You'll never see an elderly man alone, starting threads on message boards.

    The message is, "I'm won't let a leaky bladder prevent my fun in the swimming pool." This or that drug can help with that, give me a family, friends, my bathroom breaks won't exclude me anymore.

    The actors are photogenic, but not too healthy looking. You must believe they have COPD, or diabetes, or high blood pressure. However, they must not be morbidly obese or in a wheelchair, or bed ridden because this does not play well on tv.

    There is one commercial for a tiny wheel you twirl with your feet while you watch tv. The woman sings, "This is the answer to my prayers!"

    There is a Bob Eubank commercial for balance using a balance board. There is another ad with a man proclaiming, "I have the memory of an elephant!" He then shoots a layup with his wife watching from the front porch. That one is for Privogen, a brain enhancer.

    There are ads for nursing homes, A Place For Mom, with many patients socializing, playing bingo, dodge ball, having fun.

    There are ads for removing bags under your eyes. Ads for creepy skin, toenail fungus, food stains, bent erections.

    And as the commercial ends, you will see them power walking, swimming, golfing, these elderly on tv whose lives were returned by the drugs that saved them.
     
  2. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Angry and pissing themselves would be so much better, don't you think ?
     
  3. Turnaround

    Turnaround Senior Member

    Location:
    -
    That moment in your life when you realize all the TV shows you watch feature ads for ED drugs, life insurance and reverse home mortgages. :laugh:

    Interestingly, the US and New Zealand are the only two developed countries that allow for direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs.
     
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  4. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Also, according to TV seniors are absolutely obsessed with Tai Chi and yoga.

    [​IMG]
     
    Suncola, Simon A, Jazzmonkie and 10 others like this.
  5. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    i miss bounty the quickerpickerupper!
     
    MikaelaArsenault likes this.
  6. SomeCallMeTim

    SomeCallMeTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rockville, CT
    I switched to ad-free Netflix years ago. Now I can watch marathons of "Forensic Files" without being reminded of my aging, ailing demographic every 5-7 minutes.
     
    BeatleJWOL and MikaelaArsenault like this.
  7. Turnaround

    Turnaround Senior Member

    Location:
    -
    You mean the medication specifically designed for constipation caused by taking opioid medications.

    Tagline: "Why hold it in? Have your Movantik moment." :laugh:

     
  8. jimac51

    jimac51 A mythical beast.

    Location:
    Allentown,pa.
    An interesting subject and not filled with "greatest" ,"worst",and "five five favorite(genre here) things that make so much of this forum annoying(there is no way someone can proclaim an absolute without extensive knowledge of the subject,so many of these threads are worthless).
    Just think,decades ago,ads were filled with smoking cigarettes. Today,ads for the Cancer Institute of America fill part of that void.
    Locally,we have spots for for something called Sacred Heart Living Centers-retirement places for folks who can afford over $3,000 a month to live there. Thing is,they have two long running spots-one with Granda,still looking pretty good and admitting that she worked in a factory during WWII. If she was 16 in 1940,she is in the late '80s today-"but still has time for a dance or two"(after shopping all day). The male version has an Irish -looking guy,complete with flat cap who looks like he could still down a Guinness or two. 8MM film from the '50s shows the kids that he helped raise and enjoying watching those kids today running after the grandkids. All of this fun and he "never misses Chef Phillip's famous Chicken Cordon Bleu." Trouble is,it is all a sham. The local paper did a feature about the guy,who in real life used to work for the Pa. Liquor Control Board and was a softball star. And there is no Chef Phillip -he was made up while they filmed the spot.All the war stuff, the kids,the 8mm films-all fiction. And for this fraud,they charge that $3000 bucks per month. Website claims owners have past ties to a local hospital. The hospital has changed hands,but these guys are making a hefty living off of those $3000+ rents. No wonder there is so much chicken cordon bleu.
    To talk about this subject,it is important to separate over the counter goods,quack remedies and prescription drugs. And the idea of someone not being depressed is going out the window as drugs to work on depression or bi-polar,are part of the picture. A recent one doesn't spend a lot of visual moments with the patient,but with the family(especially a scared kid,which I think is immoral). Also a few bugaboos of the recent past are now mainstreamed as drug manufacturers need the potential patient to be aware that the drug exists and the need to use a professional for prescription. Some of these are long term,if not forever,drugs that can yield immense profits. When AIDS was just the horizon,and was deemed a death sentence,did anyone ever think there would be an upbeat,sometimes humorous,ad showing the audience that a treatment is available,as long as someone either could afford it or have health benefits for the cost? The millions spent by Big Pharma can result in billions of profits.
    I know I've rambled a bit,but as long as the thread doesn't get shut down for exposing crooks ,some legal,there is much to discuss. But before I end this one-there is a product advertised since before radio or TV existed-Listerine. Going back to the 19 century,this bottle of flavored alcohol-over a quarter of it is ethanol. My old man, who graduated from pharmacy school in 1929,once told me about the flim-flam that was Listerine. Sure enough,Wiki has stories of its use against gonorrhea and also floor cleaner(this info courtesy of Wiki's mention of the book Freakonomics). Like that old SNL spoof of Shimmer-a floor wax and a dessert topping. Also claims of working against the common cold & sore throats till they owners were stopped in 1976-not so long ago. And the Wiki article has some more amazing crap that is Listerine. And today it is sold to everyone-most ages for daily (at least) use.
    The hell with Netflix-you gotta see the flim and the flam to know when you're being bamboozled.
     
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  9. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    TV is not like real life... This is a new discovery for some of you? :)
     
    smilin ed, eric777, timind and 4 others like this.
  10. pocofan

    pocofan Senior Member

    Location:
    Alabama
    Or the 65 year old guy with a MUCH younger hottie wife. I have noticed quite a few commercials have different ethnic groups portraying a family. I have no problem with that. It represents our country. But a white man, a black woman and an Asian child ???
     
    utopiarun, Exotiki and dead of night like this.
  11. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    On-set director: "Cut! Great job, Madeline...now let's try it again, and this time, look a bit more gullible - you know, to reflect the buying demographic...!'
     
  12. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Also a reminder of how old you are :D is there even any way to get Netflix WITH ads in 2020?
     
  13. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    It seems like the television stations really like to show this:

    [​IMG]

    And this is the newest one:

    [​IMG]
     
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  14. Nice Marmot

    Nice Marmot Nothin’ feels right but doin’ wrong anymore

    Location:
    Tryon NC
    I wish my elderlies were like that.
     
  15. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    And don’t forget these:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  16. unclefred

    unclefred Coastie with the Moastie

    Location:
    Oregon Coast
    yeah, Coach was pretty funny with his dementia!
     
    MikaelaArsenault likes this.
  17. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    I forgot these as well:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    dead of night likes this.
  18. Exotiki

    Exotiki The Future Ain’t What It Use To Be

    Location:
    Canada
    I believe you’re describing ‘buy A for B and you’ll be C’ advertising.
     
    EdgardV likes this.
  19. MilMascaras

    MilMascaras Musicologist

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    [​IMG]
    Bob Dole
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2020
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  20. MilMascaras

    MilMascaras Musicologist

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    [​IMG]
    John Boehner
     
    timind likes this.
  21. It’s about selling hope.
     
  22. lc1995

    lc1995 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    This reminds of the "Oops I Crapped My Pants" SNL skit from a while back
     
  23. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI


    Maybe they adopted the child?
     
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  24. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    NYC
  25. sixtiesstereo

    sixtiesstereo Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    And the thing about some (most) of these ad's when they talk about all of the potential side
    effects, the last one is usually "death".....
     
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