Pharmalot: "Merck Launches A Charm Offensive For Gardasil"

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Merck Launches A Charm Offensive For Gardasil

By Ed Silverman // August 28th, 2008



First, there was the Gardasil beach towel, an attractive terry velour model that advertised to beachgoers that you’re free of a sexually transmitted disease. A nifty way to tout the advantages of the HPV vaccine.



Now, Merck is trying a new way to grab the attention of teenagers and younger adult women with a specially created line of Gardasil jewelry. As CNBC’s Mike Huckman notes, you can pay $32 for any of four “limited edition” bangles designed by Carolyn Rafaelian, a designer with Alex and Ani. The proceeds will go to the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

The Charm4Life campaign is designed to raise awareness of cervical cancer. Gardasil, to be technical about all this, is supposed to thwart the most significant strains of HPV, or human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer. The idea is clever, although whether the jewelry jumpstarts vaccinations is another thing.

Merck, you may recall, is suffering from a slump in Gardasil revenue, which isn’t likely to be helped by news of a recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine that found the vaccine isn’t worth the cost for women older than 18. Given the $360 price tag for a three-dose regimen, perhaps the bangles will only make sense as a gift or for those with private health insurance that covers the shots.



Jump to comments

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[varkam]

3. I disagree.

I think a superstitious anti-vaxer who s women and posts on the internet is worse.

[xchrom]

5. you're right. nt

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

6. I see that somebody didn't get their anti grumpiness vaccination today

maybe you can wander over to the clinic and get a nice little vaccination to cheer you up!

:rofl:

[DCKit]

2. Won't the Gardisil and virginity/abstinance pledge charms make a lot of noise during rough sex?

These marketing people are idiots.

[beam me up scottie]

4. Well, I don't know about you girls, but I'm going out tomorrow to get stuck so I can get the bling!

I don't know what's more insulting, Merck underestimating our intelligence by offering us trinkets or our self-proclaimed moral watchdogs who think we'll fall for it and believe they have to protect us from Big Pharma.
:banghead:

[Celebration]

7. LOL, we DO have a sick society

Is this supposed to make men feel better about having unprotected sex with a woman who has a beach towel? If that is their strategy, talk about empowering the fundies with this, not to mention promoting risky behaviour.

[Orrex]

8. Maybe they're supposed to have unprotected sex WITH the beach towel?

Just sayin'.

[Celebration]

9. Nice thought,, but what about the charm bracelets? n/t

[Orrex]

10. Well, beach towels like a little romance, too

"Hi, beach towel. May I call you Terry? You know what would look great on you? This charm bracelet. Know what else would look great on you? Me."


Poetry, I tells ya!