In what might be considered a pre-emptive attempt to monitor itself, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Board of Directors adopted measures to enhance the PhRMA Code that governs interactions with healthcare professionals and their staff. The voluntary code, set to go into effect January 2009, states that interactions between company representatives and health care professionals “should be focused on informing the healthcare professionals about products, providing scientific and educational information, and supporting medical research and education.”

Silly me, I thought they already were.

While the revised code mentions limits on the speaking (and consulting) fees a doctor can receive,

This month’s Advertising Age carried a news story about pharmaceutical companies and their advertising of prescription medications to consumers. They’re the commercials we’ve all come to hate… the ones that have us explaining certain “dysfunctions” to our curious 8 year old, or trying desperately to talk over the discussion of herpes played out on our family room TV in front of a teenager mortally wounded by embarrassment. Surely this wasn’t what the FDA had in mind when they relaxed the advertising rules for prescription medicines back in 1997?

Most members of the American Medical Association dislike direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads because they give patients the idea they can diagnose and treat themselves, and that there’s a pill for every ailment. Neither is true, and both are dangerous. Patients come in insisting on the drug they saw on TV, without being willing to consider generic drugs that are often cheaper and work just as well, or an alternative therapy that involves no drugs at all.

This week, Dunkin Donuts pulled an online ad featuring benign and smiling TV hostess Rachel Ray. The reason? The black and white scarf (chosen by a stylist for the advertising shoot) Ray wears in the ad looked too much like a garment known as a keffiyeh — a traditional headdress worn by Arab men and often associated with jihad. 

Look at the photos here to judge for yourself if the garments are similar. 

Many who saw the ad, thought the scarf looked very much like one often worn by Yasser Arafat, and seen continually on beheading nad hostage taking videos. And while some claim the keffiyeh is a common fashion accessory in parts of the world, others wonder how those same souls might feel if a KKK style hood was to appear on the runways of Paris or Milan.

UPDATE: A survey of 100 chief marketing officers (CMOs) by The CMO CLUB (a professional organization for marketing professionals) reveals that,  ”Despite reports to the contrary, marketing budgets haven’t been affected by the recent economic downturn.”

According to the survey, released late last week, 71% of respondents said their marketing budgets have not been reduced in 2008.

Good news! Unless you’re an Eyore…

I always used to be irritated by Eyore in the Winnie the Pooh stories… head down, slowly lumbering through life, always looking for the down side… convinced trouble would befall him at every turn. And it did. Of course you can’t help but wonder if that sad, misunderstood creature actually invited all his ill fortune with his negative attitude and expactancy of disaster.

Very much like what the media could be accused of doing with economic news of late. Like you, I’ve hard the word “recession” more times than I can count. And while it IS an election year, and there are people who are really hurting (especially those who bought more house than they could afford, or got in more debt than was sensible) it seems the naysayers are running especially wild. A recent article by Larry Elder