I almost fell over backwards today when I read an article by Niklas Prager, Country Manager of Pfizer Sweden, published on July 10, 2007. Not only did he write for the socialist Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, he also stated that pharmaceutical television commercials and newspaper ads for drugs, which blanket the U.S. media landscape, "is a bad model for Sweden." He explains his position with, "Pharmaceuticals are too important to be treated like any other product." I couldn't agree more. (Directions for Pfizer lawyers and PR people reading this: Send image of Swedish article to translation agency, then have heart attack.)
Considering that Prager's bosses over at Pfizer Inc New York are among the biggest spenders in the world on DTC drug advertising in newspapers and on television, I figured they'd love to hear what their country manager in Sweden is writing in a left-leaning newspaper. Something tells me Pfizer Public Relations New York didn't approve this message.
