Game Over: FDA Cracks Down on Viagra Online Push

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Pfizer earned two distinctions in the world of digital marketing this year, both for Viagra: It launched the first-ever online advergame for a prescription drug, which it pulled earlier this month. And separately, it was the only company sent a “warning letter” for digital marketing by the Federal Drug Administration, asking it to stop airing an online video.

Combined, those two events encapsulate the difficulties drug companies have in leveraging the Web’s full creative potential. The FDA has no rules that specifically address online marketing.

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