How drug and soap advertising manipulates you

Having worked as a copywriter and creative director at some of the world's leading advertising agencies, including McCann Erickson (now McCann Worldgroup), I am vehemently critical of new advertising. Why? I know the tricks and how they manipulate well – think of the old TV series Mad Men.

At the top of the list of ads I hate are direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads, which began in the late 1990s. I am particularly critical of them because I personally studied medicine for a while.

DTC ads have become one of the top advertising revenue streams for news outlets and websites, and people are even enjoying them. But they sell diseases and create hypochondria and cyberchondria while simultaneously marketing a drug.

For example, few people had ever heard of the diseases EPI (pancreatic exocrine insufficiency) or nAMD (wet age-related macular degeneration) until advertisements mentioning them went online. Previously, drugmakers promoted the obscure diseases shift work sleep disorder and non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder for the same reasons.

The symptoms associated with the disease (if in doubt, check out the online symptom checker) are expected to drive demand for an expensive new drug that has become available. (But I repeat myself! New drugs are always expensive until their patent expires.) Symptoms such as fatigue, dry cough, or indigestion are common and can occur to anyone.

Once upon a time, doctors told patients that they were probably fine and to “take two aspirin and call me in the morning.” Thanks to DTC advertising, you're probably not feeling well now. But if a patient self-diagnoses the advertised disease and asks for the medication by name, the advertising has served its purpose.

I don't just bully drug ads. The current soap ads, which are a close second in terms of reach and frequency, are just as manipulative. These ads now claim that your whole body smells (not just your feet, armpits, and intimate areas), that you probably actually smell strong enough to cause “odor transfer” in your own home, but washing doesn't remove the stench , unless you purchase the products advertised.

Advertisements for soap products are very catchy and use popular music hooks and repeats such as “It's The Sheets.” One ad features a man following the “irresistible” scent of another person on the street who has used the advertised product, like a romantic crime story. Another feature is the sound made when the detergent falls into the washing machine, which is called “music to the nose”.

But according to CBS and other sources, scented detergent products are linked to cancer.

Additionally, the Environmental Working Group warns that fragrance chemicals may come from phthalates, “which are hormone disruptors linked to reproductive problems.”

Well-documented chemical risks are the reason fragrances have been removed from many personal care products sold in grocery stores today that say “fragrance-free” on the label. Why did the pendulum suddenly swing back?

While Downy tops the list of ads for new soap products, Tide's ads are numerous and equally offensive, at least to this advertising woman. For example, ads for “Tide Free and Gentle” are said to be free of dyes and fragrances, like Tide’s Non-Free and Gentle formula. In advertising, we call this game of cross-selling on both sides of the street.

And there's another trick that both drug and soap product advertisements use: add-on mania. Whatever product you use – an antidepressant or a detergent – it may not do its job. However, that doesn't mean you should stop using the product. Add this new product we're promoting and you'll be fine, and so will we – we'll double our money.

Martha Rosenberg is a health reporter and author of Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Lies and Born With a Junk Food Deficiency.