It might be the oldest PR trick in the book. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.
Edward Bernays, revered in PR circles as the founder of Public Relations, did it to help the cigarette companies sell their products to women. And now Burson’s same tactics were used to sell the drug Flibanserin — or “Addyi” to women labeling it as “Pink Viagra.”
The tactic? Sexism.
Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, was hired by the American Tobacco Company to encourage women to start smoking. At the time it was socially acceptable for men to smoke, but it was considered taboo for well-to-do women to smoke in public.
In 1929 Bernays staged a dramatic public display of young female models smoking during the Easter Day Parade in New York City. He had forewarned the press to expect that women suffragists would light up “Torches of Freedom” during the parade to show they were equal to men.
The tactic was so successful that cigarette sales to women tripled that year. Unfortunately, women have since then seriously injured their health by smoking.
Now history has repeated itself as a new PR campaign, this time orchestrated by women activists, has used sexism, gender bias and a dose of political correctness to pressure the FDA to approve a drug that has proven to have very little to no benefits for women.
The New York Times reported that “flibanserin, had been rejected twice by the F.D.A. on the grounds that its very modest effectiveness was outweighed by side effects like sleepiness, dizziness and nausea. The first rejection, in 2010, followed a decision by a committee of outside advisers to the agency who unanimously opposed approval.”
The Los Angeles Times called the campaign the “The Sham Drug Idea of the Year: Pink Viagra”
“The International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, which is largely funded by the pharmaceutical industry, had joined with Sprout Pharmaceuticals and other companies with skin in the game to develop two slick campaigns, “eventhescore.org” and “womendeserve.org,” which argued that the FDA’s failure to approve a drug to treat women’s sexual problems was “sexist.” After all, men have Viagra and its various relatives,” the story noted.
The popular National Public Radio podcast “On the Media” did a story about the questionable facts used by the group to promote the pill. The campaign even used Congresswomen to endorse the product using the sexism tactic.
Critics note the campaign is masterminded by a politically connected Washington, D.C., public relations firm, Blue Engine Message & Media, and underwritten by Sprout, and that it is injecting politics into what should be a strictly scientific decision, noted Politico in a story about the pill.
The Bernays playbook used to encourage women to smoke was basically dusted off by the pharmaceutical industry to get a questionable drug approved.
History certainly does repeat itself. In the long run both campaigns could likely hurt women, but increase sales.
SPROUT SOLD FOR $1 BILLION
Hey John,
You neglected to mention that Sprout, the company that got Addyi approved, was sold the next day to Valeant for a cool $1,000,000,000 (That’s one Billion Dollars!). Sounds like a successful campaign to me.
And a technical point: Addyi is not a “Pink Viagra”. Viagra has a physical effect on the man, improving blood flow. Addyi affects the woman’s brain chemistry.
Best,
Tom Lawrence