Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor: The Celebrity Endorsement Controversy
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Case Details:
Case Code : MKTG191
Case Length : 23 pages
Period : 2006-2008
Pub Date : 2008
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : Pfizer, Inc.
Industry : Pharmaceutical
Countries : USA
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Excerpts Contd...
The Results of the Campaign
Despite the controversy surrounding the ad campaign featuring Jarvik, some analysts claimed that it was a big hit with customers. And the ad campaign helped Lipitor to retain the top spot among the cholesterol-lowering drugs. In late 2006, Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age said that it was evident that the campaign featuring Jarvik had been very successful as the third-quarter sales for Lipitor was US$3.3 billion, a 15 percent increase over the same period of 2005...
Pfizer Pulls the Campaign
Some analysts felt that the controversy that erupted over the campaign was a big source of embarrassment for Pfizer and called into question the ethical standards that Pfizer had followed in its promotional campaigns. Marketing experts debated whether the campaign was actually hurting the brand. On February 25, 2008, Pfizer announced that it had "started the process" of withdrawing the controversial ad campaign. Analysts felt that Pfizer had decided to withdraw the campaign rather than get into a confrontation with the US House Committee...
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Did Pfizer Jump the Gun?
As the debate raged over the controversy in early 2008, it succeeded in even dividing the marketing experts, though most of them were of the opinion that Pfizer had done nothing wrong in its campaign featuring Jarvik. Some felt that Jarvik with his credentials made for an excellent spokesperson for Lipitor. Some experts felt that Pfizer had done nothing wrong by using Jarvik as the face of Lipitor though he was not a cardiologist...
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Outlook
Some analysts felt that the Lipitor celebrity endorsement controversy had dented Pfizer's image and called into question its policy on ethical marketing and sales of its products. However, there were others who felt that it was most likely that Pfizer would have good back-up campaigns for Lipitor that it could use to market the drug effectively till its patent expired in 2010. Pfizer would be trying to get as much revenues out of its cash cow till then considering that its hope of sustaining the sales of Lipitor by combining it with Torcetrapib post-2010 had gone up in smoke with the failure of the much-hyped drug in late 2006...
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Exhibits
Exhibit I: Brief Profile of Robert Jarvik
Exhibit II: Pfizer's Financial Summary: 2005-2007
Exhibit III: Some Ads of Lipitor by Merkley
Exhibit IV: Lipitor Marketing Controversies
Exhibit V: The New Lipitor Print Ad Featuring Dr. Jarvik
Exhibit VI: Pfizer's Policy on Ethical Sales and Marketing
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