"Ask your doctor about Zoloft!" Then these commercials come on which instruct viewers to ask their doctor about a pharmaceutical product. I would like to think that no one would be stupid enough to make a health decision because they saw smiling, healthy-looking actors pantomiming during a voice-over laden with ominous side effects. However, pharmaceutical companies would not be spending millions of dollars if the ads did not work. Clearly, some people see those advertisements and have the audacity to ask their highly-educated and vastly better-informed doctors for that specific product.
Patents on pharmaceutical products last about 7-12 years after the product hits the market. After that, other companies can make generic versions of the same drug without having paid the cost to develop the drug or run clinical trials. So, pharmaceutical companies have to keep innovating, or at least making new products, in order to keep making money. For every new drug, the pharmaceutical companies need to mount a new ad campaign in order to get it prescribed, which is how the firms make money. The financial interests of the pharmaceutical industry and the health interests of individuals do not necessarily overlap.
I realize their influence is probably subliminal, but to the extent that you can control it, don't let advertising affect your medical decisions.
