Bayer launches UK television ads for its morning-after pill
pharmafile | May 6, 2009 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Bayer
Bayer Schering Pharma has launched a television advertising campaign for its morning-after pill Levonelle One Step in the UK.
The 30-second animated advert is set to a breezy pop song and features a cartoon young woman waking up next to her lover and recalling that their condom split the previous night.
On a bus she sees a baby crying and, realising that she is not ready for motherhood, visits a friendly pharmacist in the middle of the afternoon.
The company wants to raise awareness that Levonelle One Step can be obtained over-the-counter at pharmacies as well as from GPs and family planning clinics and that it is effective for up to 72 hours after unprotected sex.
A spokesperson for the brand said: "Research has shown not all women are aware of the facts about the emergency contraceptive pill and that some women cross their fingers and hope for the best instead of taking action when their regular contraception lets them down.
Bayer's Levonelle One Step is a single tablet containing levonorgestrel, a progestogen. It is available from pharmacists without a prescription, and this over-the-counter status means it doesn't fall within the UK's direct-to-consumer advertising restrictions.
Levonelle is the first morning-after pill to get TV airplay and will be advertised after 9pm watershed until the end of this year.
But the company has attracted the ire of pro-life campaigners, who say the adverts are inaccurate.
"Bayer Schering Pharma will laugh all the way to the bank, as consumption of Levonelle One Step inevitably increases," said Dominica Roberts, spokesperson for the ProLife Alliance.
"Young girls will be particularly susceptible to this advertising campaign, and it is foolish to imagine they do not watch TV after the 9pm watershed," she added.
The brand has previously been promoted on radio and these ads will continue throughout the year as part of the campaign.
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