If you think that marketing in the drug category is becoming less interesting and more monotonous, you're right.
A ranking of the most-recalled prescription drug ads shows that prescription drug ads became less memorable for consumers between this year and last, as measured by Nielsen IAG, New York.
The drug ads consumers remembered best in 2007 were executions for Schering-Plough's allergy drug Nasonex, Takeda's sleeping pill Rozerem, Schering's anti-cholesterol brand Vytorin, Pfizer's anti-cholesterol brand Lipitor and its anti-smoking brand Chantix, and Sepracor's insomnia med Lunesta.
But midway through 2008, all of those brands have run into controversy or economic difficulties, and some of them pulled much or their entire consumer advertising.
What is left, according to IAG, is a bunch of drug ads that would not have made the grade last year: Six of the most-remembered ads this year would not have made it into the top 10 last year, based on IAG's recall index.
Among the drug ads that have hit rocky patches:
