Janelle Applequist, PhD, an assistant professor in The Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications at the University of South Florida, Tampa. She is the author of the book Broadcast Pharmaceutical Advertising in the United States: Primetime Pill Pushers and the lead author of the study “An Updated Analysis of Director-to-Consumer Television Advertisements for Prescription Drugs,” which appeared in the May/June 2018 issue of Annals of Family Medicine. Her coauthor on the research study was Jennifer Ball, PhD, of Temple University.
TV drug ads give the impression that a pill can cure what ails you—and perhaps even give you a better life overall. Here’s how to not get duped…
