Drug advertisements have undergone tremendous criticism and scrutiny through the years. In 1997, the FDA started requiring the Pharmaceutical companies to include the major side effects associated with the drug in the advertisement.
Even though the side effects can include some fairly dire effects, including death, drugs still sell. Marketing works. But why?
Some of this can be attributed to manipulative camera work and voiceovers. Usually, you have images of the people benefiting from the drug, and often a verbal interaction with the fourth wall. But when it comes to the side effects, it continues to show smiley faces and hope, while the voiceover quickly, and often with a lower tone, talks his or her way through the side effects. Its designed to distract you from the horrors of what taking this drug COULD do. Even my family was affected by this when my wife had a stroke the week of our wedding, but that story is for another time.
Besides marketing manipulation, humans also perceive things in certain ways. Even though drug companies started including side effects in commercials, the sale of prescription drugs skyrocketed.
As advertising increased, I think people watch with hopeful eyes. They hear and see all the benefits of a drug, how much better their lives can be if they just take this drug, and they choose to ignore the physical cost of the side effects. Who wouldn’t want their sadness to be turned into an eternal state of joy if they just take this one pill? Who cares what it costs, right?
Hope & Cost
This same behavior is the one that drives droves of people to prosperity preachers Sunday after Sunday. Newsmax listed their top 100 Most Influential Evangelicals in America and quite a number of them would be in this category. I’m never surprised that these kinds of preachers exist, but sometimes I am surprised how many flock to them.
Its as if they read their Bibles and hear this preaching like a drug commercial. Just give me hope that my financial situation, my relational strife, my physical ailments, whatever I am suffering with, give me hope that they will be made better if I just have faith. I can do that. I can have faith. I can show my faith by donating more to this ministry. God will give me a greater return on my investment in the same way I invested, usually financially.
But we follow a homeless, poor, itinerant preacher from nothing-good-comes-from-it town of Nazareth. He died a criminals death. His followers are stoned, beaten, fed to lions, burned, and crucified for following Him. Christ gave us an example to follow in His suffering (1 Peter 2:21), Jesus promises trouble (John 16:33), Jesus is consistently warning those that are financially wealthy in this age (Matthew 19:24; Matthew 6:24; Luke 12:33; Luke 6:20; Luke 6:24). We see Paul hold up the Macedonian church as a model (2 Corinthians 8:1–8), although they were in extreme poverty and afflicted, they found joy, which Paul calls love. Jesus challenges his followers to consider the cost of following him (Luke 9:57-62; Luke 14:25-34).
The only reward He wants us to consider is eternity with Him in heaven. That’s the reward. May we be sure to present the risk/reward equation of the Gospel. But remember the heavenly rewards ALWAYS outway the early risks. “And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers[b] or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18:28-30)
I’ll leave you with this great SNL commercial mocking the drug company ads:
