Misleading ads take two: it’ll cost you

We’ve talked previously about misleading ads, and what a great way it is to lose consumer confidence in your company and product, but a recent TV ad campaign and article in the New York Times points out that running such ads can also cost you money directly. Big time, in fact.

According to the FDA, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals was previously running ads for Yaz birth control on prime-time national TV that weren’t completely true. Turns out taking Yaz is not a good way to prevent pimples or PMS after all…

Bayer is now being forced to run a new ad campaign devoted to pointing out this truth. The new TV commercial starts out with a woman speaking into the camera about Yaz’s previous ads: “The FDA wants us to correct a few points,” she says.

Ouch. Not only does the consumer lose confidence in anything you say about your product from here on out, but it could cost you $20 million by the time you’ve run your required ad campaign over the next six years (as was the case with Bayer).

Moral of the story? Tell your story in a creative and intriguing way. But never sacrifice telling the truth to do so.

~ by Ryan on March 10, 2009.