Purdue Pharma and Best Seat in the House

Purdue Pharma's gift: loved ones dead or hopelessly addicted to OxyContin.

Courtesy: 2.bp.blogspot.com

(WICHITA, Kansas) - Purdue Pharma's April Fool's Day -- We've addicted and killed your family members by criminally marketing OxyContin -- Now we're stooping to "bathroom" advertising to cure the dreaded constipation epidemic in the U.S.

Marianne Skolek

Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, recently completed "Best Seat in the House," its first online sweepstakes to raise nationwide awareness on the "life threatening" issue of constipation.

The marketing effort focused on Purdue Pharma's portfolio of laxatives, which include Colace Capsules, Peri-Colace Tablets, Senokot Tablets and Senokot-S Tablets.

"This was really an opportunity for us to talk to customers in a different way from traditional advertising," said Charlene Bailey, Purdue Pharma's director of product management. "TV talks at customers, and we wanted to talk to them."

The campaign used newspaper advertising to direct consumers to GetConstipationRelief.com, where they could enter the sweepstakes, share their experiences with digestive problems and find information, Bailey said.

"We wanted people to get it out of the closet and get the relief they need," she said. "We want them to know they don't need to be alone."

Too bad Purdue Pharma wasn't as concerned with the families who are truly alone -- because their loved ones are dead or hopelessly addicted to OxyContin.

Purdue Pharma goes on to say "constipation" is caused by several factors, including diet, dehydration, stress, abuse of laxatives and irritable bowel syndrome. Funny how they don't include the use of narcotics -- specifically OxyContin -- as a direct cause of constipation. But then why would they be expected to tell the truth -- they certainly didn't tell the truth about OxyContin when they marketed the drug.

The sweepstakes, which received more than 25,000 entries over five months in 2009, awarded three weekend getaways worth $5,000. The promotion, which was supported by advertising agency Della Femina Rothschild Jeary Partners Inc. and public relations firm Pollock Communications both of New York, also gave away nearly 100 Ticketmaster giftcards to favorite events.

Sweepstakes can be an effective marketing tool for the simple fact that they give people a chance to win a prize, said Gerald Cavallo, a marketing professor at Fairfield University.

"That's why people buy lottery tickets and go to casinos," he said. "This seems to have worked for Purdue Pharma."

I'd like to offer a sweepstake to the victims of OxyContin -- I'll call it "The OxyContin Best Seat in the House" -- only the seat will have voltage attached to it with a sign over the seat reading "Sit right down - and buckle up - Purdue Pharma." The winner of the lottery gets to pull the lever.

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Salem-News.com Reporter Marianne Skolek, is an Activist for Victims of OxyContin throughout the United States and Canada. In July 2007, she testified against Purdue Pharma in Federal Court in Virginia at the sentencing of their three CEO's who pled guilty to charges of marketing OxyContin as less likely to be addictive or abused to physicians and patients. She also testified against Purdue Pharma at a Judiciary Hearing of the U.S. Senate in July 2007. Marianne works with government agencies and private attorneys in having a voice for her daughter Jill, who died in 2002 after being prescribed OxyContin, as well as the voice for scores of victims of OxyContin. She has been involved in her work for the past 7-1/2 years and is currently working on a book that exposes Purdue Pharma for their continued criminal marketing of OxyContin.

Marianne is a nurse having graduated in 1991 as president of her graduating class. She also has a Paralegal certification. Marianne served on a Community Service Board for the Courier News, a Gannet newspaper in NJ writing articles predominantly regarding AIDS patients and their emotional issues. She was awarded a Community Service Award in 1993 by the Hunterdon County, NJ HIV/AIDS Task Force in recognition of and appreciation for the donated time, energy and love in facilitating a Support Group for persons with HIV/AIDS.

oxydeaths.com/news_chilling.htm
nytimes.com/2007/05/10/business/11drug-web.html?
blog.nj.com/njv_bob_braun/2007/07/sometimes_only_justice_can_rel.html
judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=2905&wit_id=6612
You can send Marianne an email at: mskolek@aol.com
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