Campaign meant to set the facts straight on the effects of the pill

Feb 12, 2009 11:37 GMT  ·  By

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, which makes and markets Yaz, the most popular birth control pill in the United States, has just agreed to start marketing it differently. The move comes after the Food and Drug Administration summoned the company to cease intentionally misleading consumers by deceptive advertising.

As a result, a new campaign, estimated at $20 million, will set the facts straight: Yaz does not cure acne and relieve premenstrual symptoms, as the New York Times informs. These two make the focus of the campaign, which has already started airing on TV, during prime-time shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” and are meant to correctly inform the very public previous campaigns might have deceived.

Furthermore, for six years from now on, Bayer is supposed to screen all future ads to the FDA for approval, before airing them. “Regulators say the ads overstated the drug’s ability to improve women’s moods and clear up acne, while playing down its potential health risks.” the NY Times reports. Consequently, all ads in the current campaign take an honest approach to the issue, with Bayer openly owning up to its faults and setting the record straight.

“You may have seen some Yaz commercials recently that were not clear. The FDA wants us to correct a few points in those ads.” an actress says in the “corrective” ad, as she’s looking into the camera and she explains that the pill does not help acne or PMS.

The previous Yaz campaign showed colorful balloons with tags such as “headaches,” “acne” and “feeling anxious.” Since the Yaz slogan is “Beyond Birth Control” and Bayer is marketing the pill not only for preventing unwanted pregnancies, but also as a lifestyle drug, the FDA found that the ad misled menstruating women into believing that they too could use it to relieve symptoms. “These ads should have never been out there,” Judy Norsigian, the executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves, tells the NY Times.

As noted above, Yaz is the best-selling contraception pill in the US. Sales for it reached $616 million (18% market share) in 2008, IMS Health details.