I was dining at a Denny’s
restaurant recently when I saw a standalone ad on the table. It read, “Eating
has its rewards.” It was about a new program Denny’s is offering that allows
you to earn points towards free food at their restaurant. I looked at it and thought, “of course eating
has its rewards. Food tastes good, fills our empty bellies, and provides fuel
for our bodies.”
That’s not the only silly ad I’ve
seen in recent weeks. There’s been a commercial on TV for Dunkin Donuts that
I’ve seen a few times. The tag line at the end states, “America runs on
Dunkin.” Every time I hear that I think, “Really? I don’t even know where the
nearest Dunkin Donuts is located. Even if I did, I couldn’t drink their coffee
or eat their donuts, unless they make gluten free donuts.”
I’m not saying their food is bad.
In fact, there was a time when I absolutely loved their donuts, especially the
cream filled, chocolate iced ones. It’s just that in recent years I’ve
discovered that I do better without gluten in my diet and I’m allergic to
caffeine.
I recently saw one of the silliest
commercials I think I’ve ever seen. It was for Gummi Vites and basically it
said there used to be only one way to get your vitamins. A pill that you had to
swallow whole and if you failed, it was likely to taste nasty. I thought,
“Really? If we eat a reasonably healthy diet, we’re likely to get most, if not
all the vitamins we need.”
However, the commercials I find
most disturbing are the ones for prescription pharmaceuticals. When I was growing up, you’d see commercials
for over the counter pain relief or antacid tablets, but never anything for
which you had to visit your doctor to receive a prescription. I remember being
mildly surprised the first time I saw an ad for a prescription medication. If
memory serves, it was for something to help people who had a particular type of
arthritis. At the time, I just figured
that was the way TV ads were going. Over time as I saw more and more
prescription products being advertised, I started wondering why the big push. I
mean, if people need those kinds of drugs, they’re going to be calling their
doctor for an appointment and talking about whatever’s bothering them. These
ads seemed silly as a result.
I know now they were pushing them
because they wanted to sell more of the drug and make more money. They didn’t
truly care about the people their drugs were supposed to help. If they did
care, they’d have been more up front about the possible side effects. I know
whenever I hear a commercial for one of these products, the narrator will
quickly go over a list of the most common side effects, but you have to really
be paying attention to catch them all. Unfortunately, people who took those
drugs weren’t completely informed of the possibility of more serious side effects
and were often seriously injured. Worse yet, some died. Those same companies
that were pushing their drugs so hard are now being sued. It too bad that by
the time people realize the full extent of the problems, they and their
families had been seriously hurt. The companies involved have made lots of
money – more than enough to pay legal fees and any potential settlement to the
people they’ve harmed.
I was curious about the approximate
percentage of drugs that are advertised and then subsequently pulled after
doing grievous harm. After a quick search, I found one website that claims 33% or one in three drugs will be
pulled.
Ultimately the choices are ours
about what drugs to take. So, if you see a drug advertised for a health issue
you have, do yourself a favor. Do as much research as possible before you talk to your doctor. Better
safe than sorry and I’m sure your family would rather have you around safe and
as healthy as possible, than be worrying about long term care or planning a
funeral.
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