Direct-to-Consumer Advertising for Cancer Centers and Institutes: Ethical Dilemmas and Practical Implications.

In the United States, many cancer centers advertise their clinical services directly to the public. Although there are potential public benefits from such advertising, including increased patient awareness of treatment options and improved access to care and clinical trials, there is also potential for harm through misinformation, provision of false hope, inappropriate use of health care resources, and disruption in doctor-patient relationships. Although patient education through advertising is appropriate, misleading patients in the name of gaining market share, boosting profits, or even boosting trial accrual is not. It is critical that rigorous ethical guidelines are adopted and that oversight is introduced to ensure that cancer center marketing supports good patient care and public health interests. Patients with cancer have been identified as an especially vulnerable population because of fears and anxiety related to their diagnosis and the very real need to identify optimal sources of care. Cancer organizations have a fiduciary duty and a moral and legal obligation to provide truthful information to avoid deceptive, inaccurate claims associated with treatment success. In this article, actionable recommendations are provided for both the oncologist and the cancer center's marketing team to promote ethical marketing of services to patients with cancer. This tailored guidance for the oncology community includes explicit communication on (1) ensuring fair and balanced promotion of cancer services, (2) avoiding exaggeration of claims in the context of reputational marketing, (3) providing data and statistics to support direct and implied assertions of treatment success, and (4) defining eligible patient groups in the context of marketing for research. These recommendations for cancer centers are designed to promote ethical quality marketing information to patients with cancer.

[Father and sons: Feller family members in the context of the beginnings of advertising in Croatia] / Otac i sinovi: clanovi obitelji Feller u kontekstu pocetaka reklamnoga oglasavanja u Hrvatskoj

This paper presents the role of Eugen Viktor Feller, a pharmacist and factory owner, with an emphasis on his marketing strategy in advertising his pharmacy specialty Elsa. Various types of contemporary press and advertising leaflets and packaging were used as a starting point for analysis. The abundance of the collected material provided an insight into Feller's communication strategy of the approach to consumers, comparing advertising in different media and time spans. Following the appearance and elaboration of visual communication phenomena as part of family interest, approaches and advances in the development of advertising in the projects of Feller's sons Miroslav and Ferdinand were presented. Upgrading to the father's positive marketing experience they begin a more contemplative advertising campaign. Ferdinand Feller introduces the concept of collective pharmaceutical propaganda into pharmaceutical marketing, while Miroslav Feller becomes one of the leaders in the development of institutionalization and professionalization of commercial graphic design. Thus, marketing development was demonstrated through marketing approaches and innovative ideas of the three members of Feller family, illustrating the shift in approaches that marked the beginning of a different management within an industrial society, where advertising became an indispensable part and a promoter of market relationships.

[Understand the tobacco industry's strategy for recruiting teens: Lessons from a 1973 marketing document]. / Comprendre la stratégie de l'industrie du tabac pour recruter les adolescents : leçons actuelles d'un document marketing de 1973.

For years, the tobacco industry has organized the inoculation of tobacco addiction to adolescents. METHOD: The analysis of a 1973 RJReynols® document identified ten physical and psychological factors in order to increase the number of young users for a brand of cigarettes. These young people are classified into three groups: pre-smokers, learners and smokers. RESULT: The taste for pre-smokers and learners and nicotine for smokers are main physical parameters. The industry clearly knows that tobacco is mainly consumed because of nicotine addiction, so it is necessary to make adolescents addict. It is interesting to note that cigarette pack was in 1973 a positive factor to attract young smokers, whereas now with the arrival of the neutral packaging, the tobacco industry declares that packaging has no influence to attract teenagers ! Of the psychological factors, the only negative factor is the self-image of the smoker. The tobacco industry already recognized in 1973 that smokers were unhappy about smoking. For learners, self-image and the experience of adults are most important factor, which is why the industry strives to create a positive image and convey message that smoking initiation is a ritual to become adult. According to the tobacco industry, stress and alleviation of boredom are also important points in turning pre-smokers into learners and learners into smokers. CONCLUSION: This article aims to provide practical tools for understanding industry initiatives targeting adolescents. The attached tool can be used by the teens or adults involved to understand the optimization of teenagers tobacco marketing.