As I thumbed through my April 24 Time magazine (with “The Opus Dei Code” on the front), I stumbled upon a unique two-page Celebrex advertisement, which turned out to be a three-page Pfizer Public Relations plan. I say unique because Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., who happens to own Celebrex, took advantage of the large ad space and the celebrated praise of Celebrex to encourage people with little or no medical insurance to learn about the assistance programs offered by the company for medicines.
The ad features a 1 1/4-page photo of an African-American man holding the hand of probably a grandson as they climb the stairs at a sporting arena probably in search of a bathroom or popcorn. Both are looking back to watch the game as they ascend the stairs away from it. The other 3/4 of the second page is in white with several words about Celebrex. The third page is all text with a headline that reads: “Medication Guide for Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)” Interestingly, under the feet of the stair-climbers on the first page is a clever Pfizer ad called, “Pfizer Helpful Answers.” The ad reads, “Uninsured? Need help paying for medicine? Pfizer has programs that can help, no matter your age or income. You may even qualify for free Pfizer medicines …”
When I traveled to the suggested online website at http://www.pfizerhelpfulanswers.com, I discovered what I believe to be a very subtly powerful PR outreach plan targeting minorities with the message of how “helpful” Pfizer can be in providing them with its medicines.
The target audience in their photos appears to be mostly minority groups, although they do reach out to all Americans.
I consider this a very successful PR campaign because Pfizer is showing its stakeholders it truly cares for more than just its financial bottom line. Part of what makes this campaign so clever is that Pfizer is only offering these programs to pay for medicines provided by Pfizer. Logic would dictate that if the company ultimately cared unconditionally about the health of its potential customer base, it would offer programs that pay for any and all medicines, regardless of which company produced it. However, that is what makes Pfizer successful in its campaign; it minimizes that fact and at the same time demonstrates it cares about the health of ALL Americans, regardless of “your age or income.”
Besides the advertising campaign, the website also features several other ways Pfizer’s PR plan is reaching out to its stakeholders — through Research and Development, Corporate Citizenship, Health Resources and promotion of Animal Care. Bottom line; they are actively reaching out with all oars in the water to show they are much more than some giant conglomerate; though that is what they truly are. Instead, they demonstrate their care both for the environment and the humans who live in it; something very hard to do these days.
Eric B. Pilgrim, Student
University of Maryland University College
Public Relations Theory Class of Professor Barbara Puffer, ABC
