Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor: The Celebrity Endorsement Controversy

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"[The work features] a strategic move from just focusing on cholesterol-lowering… We think we have something much larger than that [other cliché consumer drug advertising campaigns]… We think Dr. Jarvik is an amazing spokesperson, [as the inventor of the artificial heart] he's beyond a celebrity spokesperson."¹

- Robin Koval, President of The Kaplan Thaler Group that created the Lipitor campaign featuring Robert Jarvik, in 2006.

"So what should we all take away from Pfizer's decision to pull the campaign? They had to pull it because consumers and physicians were focused on Jarvik's credentials rather than on the product itself. When a celebrity gets in the way of the message it is time to change… As aggressive as marketers and their agencies want to be in their claims and creative power, the negative impact of having them misinterpreted is high. The Jarvik case should be studied by all DTC marketers for the lessons and risks of celebrity endorsers."²

- Bob Ehrlich, CEO of DTC Perspectives, Inc.³, in 2008.

"The irony of it is that Pfizer executed and implemented techniques that every other advertiser uses in the marketplace today — it's basic principles of building unique copy in the effort of building brand awareness for Lipitor… They did so through the use of Dr. Jarvik. And the multiple creatives that had very consistent creative synergy that built this campaign."⁴

- Fariba Zamaniyan, Senior Vice President of Healthcare at IAG Research, Inc.⁵, in 2008.

On February 25, 2008, Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer), the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, announced that it was withdrawing an advertising campaign featuring Robert Jarvik (Jarvik), widely known as the inventor of the artificial heart, for its blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor (Refer to Exhibit I for a brief profile of Robert Jarvik). The announcement came after a congressional inquiry by a US House Committee began into celebrity endorsements of prescription drugs. Pfizer had been facing criticism from various quarters that the campaign was misleading the public and that the ads were deceptive. Lipitor was the biggest brand in the pharmaceutical industry.

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1] Jim Edwards, "Pfizer Launches New Lipitor Effort," www.brandweek.com, March 31, 2006.

2] Bob Ehrlich, "Jarvik Teaches Us a Lesson," http://dtcperspectives.com, February 29, 2008.

3] DTC Perspectives, Inc., is a DTC services company founded in 2000.

4] George Koroneos, "Jarvik Ads Get KO'd," http://pharmexec.findpharma.com, February 27, 2008.

5] IAG Research, Inc. was a privately held company that measured consumer engagement with television programs, national commercials and product placements. As of 2008, it was a part of The Nielsen Company and rebranded as Nielsen IAG.