Excedrin Doesn't Relieve Headaches in 15 Minutes, Despite What Ads Said
Novartis (NVS) should discontinue ads that say its Extra Strength Excedrin starts to relieve headaches in 15 minutes, according to the National Advertising Review Board, an appeals body that governs disputes between advertisers.
Wyeth (now Pfizer - PFE), maker of Advil, had originally complained that Excedrin does not relieve headaches in 15 minutes. That dispute, heard by the The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, had also determined that Novartis’ Excedrin claim was bogus. Adweek:
Looking at Novartis’ study, the NAD found that the “statistically significant” number of respondents who reported feeling better 15 minutes after taking Extra-Strength Excedrin was “very small.”
Novartis appealed to NARB and the decision was upheld: Excedrin doesn’t really start to alleviate your headache in 15 minutes. This time Novartis has agreed to end its commercials. Indeed, they’ve disappeared from this page where they used to be.
And finally: Wasn’t the Excedrin account last seen at Saatchi & Saatchi?
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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