Pfizer launched its first TV commercial for its new psoriasis therapy Cibinqo, and it’s giving us the blues.
You may be forgiven for thinking Pfizer had left a generic screensaver on, but no: The TV ad, such as it is, features no actors, no animated characters and no environment. What you get is a lot of blue: a blue background and blue text that flitters around the screen as if under water and feels underwhelming.
That text predominately tells you what the drug does and the fact that it works as a pill, not an injection, and is non-steroidal. There are no emotional beats, and the whole experience could leave the viewer feeling a little cold.
That blue coloring does feel calming, however, which is the message you’d want against the angry redness associated with eczema. The main message from the narrator is: “This is the moment: We have only just begun,” though this is said at the end and leaves us wondering whether it will make a real impact.
Many other recent eczema TV ads play on the theme of itch and relief. Sanofi and Regeneron tapped that itchy redness in its more recent Dupixent ads and how the drug can clear this out and let people get back to their lives.
The 60-second Cibinqo ad does, however, fall in line with an earlier awareness ad, which first ran online in January just after its FDA approval. That ad talked about eczema in general and how it can affect things like mental health. The video, which is on Twitter,also features that blue hue and text.
Still, for a company that made more than $30 billion in sales from Comirnaty last year, you’d think they’d have the marketing budget for something a little more special.
