I’m a licensed, non-practicing pharmacist. My opinion of direct-to-consumer drug advertising belongs in the Pit, and that’s putting it mildly. I don’t have a problem with PSAs about medical conditions, whether rare or not, but DTCDA is illegal in every country on earth except the U.S. and, interestingly, New Zealand.
This is the first time I’ve seen anyone say that they personally benefited from it. I’m glad you did.
Most diabetics who have a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) absolutely love it. Between it and an insulin pump, it’s the closest we have so far to an artificial pancreas.
Disclaimer: I am an advertising professional. 
The above is absolutely the answer (and, more broadly, it’s the answer to “why does anybody bother to advertise anything?”)
I’ve read (and participated in) literally dozens of conversations on this board around advertising, and the sentiment of “I never ever am influenced by advertising, and I can’t believe that anyone would be!” comes up again and again. Very few people like advertising (except for the funny ads 
), and even fewer people are willing to admit that they might be influenced by ads.
Advertisers test these things. Even if you personally feel “I’m smarter than that, I make my own informed decisions, I ignore ads”…ads can, and do, have a positive impact on how people learn about products, and how people choose products. Even if you’re a skeptic who claims to be immune to advertising, if nothing else, ads may have helped to build awareness of the advertised products in your mind.
And, in the case of DTC ads by pharmaceutical companies (which, for the record, I agree are often problematic), they do a tremendous amount of testing behind these ad campaigns, and, obviously, spend an awful lot behind these campaigns. If these ads did not work, the pharma companies would not run them. It’s really that simple.
Nitpick: Only if the pump is the newest Medtronic model (670G), which provides closed loop basal dosing if using in auto mode. It was actually referred to as an “artificial pancreas” when it was released, but I don’t hear that phrasing so much anymore.
Practically speaking, though, the 670G is an artificial pancreas in the same way “cauliflower mashed potatoes” are mashed potatoes.
mmm