# Humira commercials are getting on my nerves **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 10, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177 "2015-06-10T16:52:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/21 "2015-06-11T13:56:54Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Humira is the one that may cause cancers such as lymphoma to occur, right? 😕 So your skin will look nice, and your joints will feel great, but you’re going to die of a nasty cancer. Yep. For some people they may reach a point in their life when they no longer want to constantly look like day four after a nasty motorcycle fall onto pavement and they are willing to take the risk. I reached that point. My joints don’t feel any better but at least my wife isn’t squigged out about touching me. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/22 "2015-06-11T14:44:51Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > That’s Chantix, a stop-smoking drug. Horrible stuff. Chanitx may cause changes in mood. Well, yeah, stopping smoking in general might make one somewhat pissed off. ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/23 "2015-06-11T14:56:05Z")
Hey, so I work in pharma advertising 
 you’ve got to understand the evolution of some of these things to understand how pointless they become. (1) Start with a great idea, innovate, fun (2) Watch the idea slowly get compromised over and over again as the medical, legal and promotional reviewers\* discuss it and give feedback (3) Re-submit the ad to the med-legal-promo review team and watch it get compromised more as they change their minds from what they told you 2 weeks ago (4) Then that team insists that every benefit you claim has to be surrounded and balanced by safety information - ergo the giant list of side effects that were really only experienced by 2 people in the 1000±person clinical trial, but they have to mention them all anyway\*\* (4) Rinse and repeat a few more times (5) Give up on creating anything special and throw the compromised piece of garbage ad up on TV or the site up on the web or whatever Its how you end up with ads like the current Flonase “6 is greater than 1” nonsense. I can virtually guarantee that it started much better off in terms of telling you what the drug does - but probably their other taglines/claims were vetoed because they didn’t have complete, full and proper documentation on them. So, since “6 \> 1” is a mathematical fact that’s hard to argue, that’s what they ended up with. And then the safety information about side effects and “make sure to tell your doctor all the drugs you are taking” because the drug company doesn’t want to get sued. I can tell you that pharma advertising and the rising cost of drugs has a pretty solid correlation, but let’s be honest. If the drug company can get away with charging $2000/month for something and then couldn’t advertise, they’d still charge that amount and pocket it. Capitalism! (Also I’d be out of a job and have to go find honest work
) - medical - to make sure you’re medically correct legal - to make sure you won’t the company sued promotional - to make sure what’s being said is in line with the numerous FDA regs on what can be said \*\* there is actually a threshold for this, I’m not sure what it is ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/24 "2015-06-11T15:32:01Z")
> [@funky\_little\_lee](#): > > You can consider this a mini-Pit, not a triple-dog-dare Pit, but I’m really getting bugged by Humira commercials. They pronounce the name of the drug, without exception, as Hyu-MEH-ra. OK fine, but if you wanted to pronounce it Hyu-MEH-ra, why did you spell it H-U-M-I-R-A? Because that looks like it should be pronounced Hyu-MEE-ra. > > OK, got that off my chest. Feeling better now. Looks like it should be pronounced Hyu-MY-ra to me. Other than that, I got nothing. Except that it’s shown way the hell too often, like every other commercial. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/25 "2015-06-11T16:15:21Z")
> [@Celidin](#): > > Its how you end up with ads like the current Flonase “6 is greater than 1” nonsense. I can virtually guarantee that it started much better off in terms of telling you what the drug does - but probably their other taglines/claims were vetoed because they didn’t have complete, full and proper documentation on them. So, since “6 \> 1” is a mathematical fact that’s hard to argue, that’s what they ended up with. I believe it’s Verizon which has jumped on the bandwagon with 6 \> 6. :rolleyes: Oh, Samsung: > **[Samsung says '6\>6' in new Galaxy S6 Edge ad | AppleInsider](https://appleinsider.com/articles/15/06/04/samsung-says-66-in-new-galaxy-s6-edge-ad)** > > In its never ending quest to one-up Apple, Samsung on Thursday revealed a new ad campaign counting the ways the partially curved Galaxy S6 Edge display outperforms iPhone 6. The spots come with the cheeky tagline, "When you do the math it's clear,... ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/26 "2015-06-11T16:55:17Z")
I asked my doctor. This thread’s not right for me. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/27 "2015-06-11T17:18:34Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Every time I see those commercials on TV I can’t help but wonder how much that stuff would cost if the ad campaign wasn’t wrapped into the price of a fix. You think that’s unique to pharma? ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/28 "2015-06-11T20:01:46Z")
Well, I mini-pit you for getting “Love Shack” in my head! I’ve been singing it ever since I read this thread and my cat is giving me the “wtf?!” look. Funkylittleshack
 FUN-ky little shack! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/29 "2015-06-11T20:26:46Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > They can pronounce it however they want as far as I’m concerned. This. It’s a miracle drug as far as I am concerned. I was one of the guinea pigs in the initial human studies for Humira. I had rheumatoid arthritis BAD. Today I’m in remission because of Humira. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/30 "2015-06-11T21:05:39Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Similarly (or better yet), if your ask your urologist for Viagra, he needs to know if your GP has you on blood pressure meds so you, ya know, don’t pass out and fall down the stairs or something. Pro-tip: Don’t boink on the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/31 "2015-06-11T21:30:26Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I always like the line “tell your doctor about all your medications”. DUH! Didn’t he prescribe them in the first place? Medications are NOT limited to prescription medications. You need to include a complete list of any regular OTC treatments, vitamins and supplements. A LOT of herbal supplements can interact with prescriptions in dangerous ways. Prescription blood thinners have interactions with a lot of common supplements, like CoQ10, cranberry, evening primrose oil and saw palmetto. Melatonin and ginseng can affect diabetes medications. And [kava kava](http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/kava-kava) and [St. John’s Wort](http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/st-johns-wort) can have dangerous interactions with a whole bunch of different medications. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/32 "2015-06-11T22:27:42Z")
Since Chantix has been mentioned. I HATE with the heat of a thousand burning nuns, the wording in the Chantix ads which say that their studies showed how many people “were quit” after taking their pill. It’s “HAD quit”, you morons! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/33 "2015-06-12T00:41:45Z")
If it were a freedom of speech issue, they wouldn’t be forced to have all those side effects listed, and the FDA wouldn’t be able to make non-medical stuff say “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.” Which I don’t believe has to be on homeopathic “medication,” but that’s a different rant. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/34 "2015-06-12T00:47:47Z")
> [@Celidin](#): > > I can tell you that pharma advertising and the rising cost of drugs has a pretty solid correlation, but let’s be honest. If the drug company can get away with charging $2000/month for something and then couldn’t advertise, they’d still charge that amount and pocket it. Capitalism! (Also I’d be out of a job and have to go find honest work
) But I largely think that the advertizing is part of why they can charge that much. Everyone says advertizing doesn’t work on them, and it probably generally doesn’t. But it works well enough that companies make more money with it than without it, despite it costing money to have someone make those ads. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/35 "2015-06-12T03:09:53Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I asked my doctor. This thread’s not right for me. Did you tell your doctor about all the threads you are subscribed to? ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/36 "2015-06-12T03:40:35Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Adalimumadibblydoodamab I was in a meeting with three physicians today and had to pronounce that. They always know when I’m stumped by pronunciation (and I’m pretty good for a non-physician), because I use the brand name. ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/37 "2015-06-12T13:19:33Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But I largely think that the advertizing is part of why they can charge that much. Everyone says advertizing doesn’t work on them, and it probably generally doesn’t. But it works well enough that companies make more money with it than without it, despite it costing money to have someone make those ads. My point is that the cost of the medication isn’t controlled by the fact it can be advertised on TV, the cost of the medication is more directly related to how much they can charge an insurance company before the insurance company stops paying. (Also, competitive pricing and other market forces). I’m sure “people clamoring for this in-demand drug that cures XYZ” plays a part too, but I’m thinking its not as big a factor. Advertising does help the company then sell that many more pills( at the price determined by the market) and thus make even more money. Amusing anecdote: I’ve been around for a few drug launches. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the marketing team is going for a many months designing ads, preparing pieces, writing up a “bible” of how to market this particular drug prior to the drug getting its formal brand name. See, the name also has to be blessed by the FDA, and usually a drug company submits their preferred option with a few alternates. All of these include a pronunciation guide. Why? Because the FDA doesn’t want the drug name ot look like, spell like or **sound** like another drug - brand name _or_ generic (though sometimes I wonder
). That’s why Humira is pronounced the way it is, all the time, always. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/38 "2015-06-12T13:21:22Z")
> [@Celidin](#): > > Hey, so I work in pharma advertising 
 you’ve got to understand the evolution of some of these things to understand how pointless they become. > > (1) Start with a great idea, innovate, fun > (2) Watch the idea slowly get compromised over and over again as the medical, legal and promotional reviewers\* discuss it and give feedback > (3) Re-submit the ad to the med-legal-promo review team and watch it get compromised more as they change their minds from what they told you 2 weeks ago > (4) Then that team insists that every benefit you claim has to be surrounded and balanced by safety information - ergo the giant list of side effects that were really only experienced by 2 people in the 1000±person clinical trial, but they have to mention them all anyway\*\* > (4) Rinse and repeat a few more times > (5) Give up on creating anything special and throw the compromised piece of garbage ad up on TV or the site up on the web or whatever > > Its how you end up with ads like the current Flonase “6 is greater than 1” nonsense. None of that excuses the ads for boner drugs. What’s up with the outdoor claw-foot bathtubs? \*Separate \*bathtubs? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/39 "2015-06-12T15:08:34Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > The first amendment prohibits the government from banning advertisement unless the companies voluntarily agree to do so. Hard alcohol makers voluntarily stopped advertising on TV until 1996. You’re an idiot. In 1970, President Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act which \*\*banned \*\*cigarettes from being advertised on TV, something that the tobacco industry strenuously fought against and then lost. The very last cigarette commercial aired on January 1, 1971. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177/40 "2015-06-12T19:46:02Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > None of that excuses the ads for boner drugs. What’s up with the outdoor claw-foot bathtubs? \*Separate \*bathtubs? The couple and his boner can’t fit in one tub. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humira-commercials-are-getting-on-my-nerves/722177.md?page=3)