The Covid-19 pandemic has been good for Pfizer and news outlets who run the drugmaker's seemingly back-to-back ads. (Question: How medically objective is a newscast when the station announces the news "is sponsored by Pfizer"?)
But Pfizer has a problem. As Covid-19 becomes less deadly, the public's fear level is dropping and so are the drugmaker's profits. According to FiercePharma, a drug industry web site, the drug giant expected to bring in a mere $13.5 billion this year, compared with the Covid-19-leavened $36 billion-plus it netted in 2021/2022. Ouch.
But not to worry. Pfizer is now targeting young people for its Covid-19 products. "After targeting seniors with its Martha Stewart wields a samurai sword spot, the Big Pharma has swung to the opposite end of the age spectrum with an ad featuring a singer [31-year-old Charlies Puth] who first made their name on YouTube," says FiercePharma. "Sandwiched between the Stewart and Puth spots, the drugmaker ran an ad featuring musical artist Pink; drummer, filmmaker and singer Questlove; actor Jean Smart; and Olympic gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps that discussed the dangers COVID-19 poses to different people without explicitly promoting Pfizer's products."
Think your Covid-19 risks are over says another Pfizer ad? Not if you have depression, obesity, diabetes or asthma trumpets another salvo of celebrity ads (conditions which also enrich drugmaker as well as junk food makers.) Not as long as Pfizer has dollar signs in its eyes.
"Have COVID? Request Paxlovid Even if You're 'Not High Risk.' Here's Why," says the news site kqed in an article that reads like a Pfizer ad. "Paxlovid [a non vaccine Covid-19 drug] was initially only used to treat the patients deemed most at risk from severe illness from COVID. Later in 2022, it was expanded to more pharmacies across the United States as part of a nationwide push to get Paxlovid to more COVID patients who could benefit from it due to existing health factors."
Pfizer's Long Rap Sheet
Before Pfizer's Covid prominence, the drugmaker was not a household word. Yet it has a long and concerning rap sheet. In one week in 2010 Pfizer:
Suspended pediatric trials of Geodon two months after the FDA said children were being overdosed in the trials
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