Flap Over Dr. Robert Jarvik Shows Why Marketing Has To Be Internally Consistent & Credible
Recently, major news organizations like the New York Times and ABC News have focused much attention on Dr. Robert Jarvik’s marketing work on behalf of Pfizer. Many Americans have seen the television and print commercials where he touts the benefits of Lipitor and discusses why he prefers it over other cholesterol medications.
Over the years, I watched the commercials and didn’t think much about them. I knew a little bit about Jarvik and assumed that because he invented the artificial heart that he was well-positioned to discuss Lipitor. However, when I learned that he is not a licensed physician I was very surprised. I honestly thought he was because he had a white coat on and referred to himself as “doctor.”
Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Jarvik, who is portrayed rowing in one ad, does not practice the sport. In fact, Pfizer hired a stunt double to row in his place. While using a stunt double is no crime, the report only reinforced the perception that Pfizer and Jarvik were acting unethically.
At issue is the use of celebrity spokespersons to market prescription medications. Frankly, I do not think there is anything wrong with it – if two requirements are met:
1. The celebrity has to take the medication they are promoting
2. If a doctor is being featured in the campaign, they must practice medicine
Following these two rules is important because it ensures the message you are communicating is internally consistent and credible. If a celebrity has not taken the medication they are touting they are not qualified to speak about its benefits. Further, if a physician has not prescribed, it they have no familiarity with the drug and can’t speak about it credibly.
In this case, the Jarvik commercials don’t pass the red face test and that’s too bad. While Pfizer will continue to sell lots of Lipitor, Jarvik’s reputation has taken a major hit. Now, everything he says will be taken with a grain of salt. Given that Jarvik has made numerous wonderful contributions to science and medicine, that’s unfortunate.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Do not kill the messenger when the message is right.
After reading the comments on Jarvik and the Libitor ad, I asked Alfred Tector, who was the transplant surgeon at Aurora Health Care who worked with Jarvik on some of the earliest trials with the Jarvik heart, what his take was. He shared some interesting thoughts.
“Rob Jarvik is a very interesting guy. He is primarily an engineer and when he was developing the total artificial heart (which is the device we implanted into Ray Harmon) he attended medical school at University of Utah in Salt Lake City where the lab site was located. He did obtain his degree in medicine but he never did a internship or any other formal training however, he had extensive on the job training when he transitioned the total artificial heart from the animal laboratory to implantation and usage in humans and had a fantastic knowledge of cardiology and physiology of the heart.
During the transition years he advertised underwear in many of the popular magazines in an attempt to keep the company afloat although he didn’t row the boat he did wear the underwear. Soon after he sold the company (Symbion) to the University of Arizona. Later he developed the Jarvik axial flow pump which has had very good success particularly in England. When we were developing or program at Aurora St. Luke’s in 1985 and 1986 he gave a talk on the total artificial heart and it was the largest crowd ever assembled for an event at St. Luke’s. Not only was the auditorium overcrowded to capacity but his talk was televised for the overflow in many of the other conference rooms.”`
I would hope we would be encouraging more innovators like Jarvik, not belittling them. He is certainly well qualified to discuss heart disease and the message of exercise, cholesterol and blood pressure control is giving us great improvements in reducing heart disease in this country.
G Edwin Howe
http://healthcare-action.blogspot.com/
February 14th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Mr. Howe:
I certainly agree that the message Dr. Jarvik is touting is right. In addition, as someone who has developed and produced pharmaceutical marketing campaigns, I am a supporter of them.
The point of my post was not to kill the messenger. After all, I touted his accomplishments. However, what I did not agree with was the fact that it was implied that Dr. Jarvik is a medical doctor. When I saw the commercials, I thought they were good because I believed he was a physician talking about his experience prescribing the medication. While he may be qualified to discuss it, the fact the advertisement was not clear about his background is a problem.