Journal #6 Side Effects May Include Death!

It's no question that advertising is changing the way we look at products. But in a society where we avoid advertisements at all costs, how effective are ads at really getting through to us. Drug advertising is seen as deceptive, repeating key words they want you to remember and then squeezing in all the side effects in a way that is intended for you to not be able to remember them. Something like this: 

I gave myself a little test, I watched this once and only once to remember what I would get from the commercial. I remember some green wings, some people trying to sleep, and a long list of side effects. I think the product is to help people sleep but my attention span begins to drown out the long list of side effects, however, I do remember hearing something about people have been noted to drive in their sleep and not realize until they wake up.

Yes, drug advertisements may be deceptive. The ads have the list of side effects that become mind numbing to listen to, but does that make us forget about them - I don't think so. When the list is so long that I can't remember everything I heard, I think that's a huge red flag and a major issue. I've gotten into the habit of listening to the side effects list of drug commercials because at times it's actually funny that a person would even RISK taking the medication with all these known side effects in order to deflate a lesser issue. Take these ads for example, it seems the entire commercial IS the side effects. I find it funniest when the commercial mentions death as a side effect. 

At the same time a sometimes the medication itself can cause the problem you are trying to repair. If you take Tylenol for a headache, a side effect may be a migraine. Although society may not know the particular side effect, we know that all medication does have a long list of possible issues associated with it - we are not that naive. However, does that stop us from taking it - most of the time? No. We still want Advil for our migraines even though it may lead to ulcers, and use birth control even though it may cause blood clots or heart disease.12 Our society is not naive to the risks, we just seem willing to take them in most circumstances. If more people were like Phoebe, we might have a larger demand for Naturopathic Doctors and medicines. 

1"SHOULD I TAKE TYLENOL, ADVIL OR ASPIRIN? | The Science Creative Quarterly."SHOULD I TAKE TYLENOL, ADVIL OR ASPIRIN? | The Science          Creative Quarterly. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.scq.ubc.ca/should-i-take-tylenol-advil-or-aspirin/>.

2"Drug Factsheets - C-Health." Drug Factsheets - C-Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://chealth.canoe.ca/drug_info_details.asp?channel_id=0>.