Lifting Hong Kong's decades-old ban on pharmaceutical advertising
will admittedly benefit the advertising industry first of all.
Let's face it, more than most, ad agencies and media owners desperately
need a miracle cure. And it should preferably be one that can be
administered immediately, if the latest adspend data is the prognosis to
go by. The five per cent rise in advertising expenditure for the year to
June hides more ills than the industry is willing to admit to.
But more than the advertising industry, it's the Hong Kong public that
ultimately stands to benefit from the lifting of the Undesirable
Medicinal Act. The Act, which even prohibits advertising for products
related to fungal diseases and baldness, has no place in modern Hong
Kong.
The internet and a thriving pharmaceutical advertising business across
the border have reduced the act to nothing more than a quaint
anachronism.
As with most categories, the internet puts a wide range of information -
largely unregulated - at consumers' fingertips. It's no different with
pharmaceuticals. As such, the pharmaceutical category could potentially
pose the greatest risk to consumers through the unregulated
dissemination of information on the web.
So, if consumer protection is the main reason why Hong Kong has kept the
ad ban in place, the Government would be doing a better job by repealing
the act and allowing companies to advertise.
This way, the administration will be better placed to ensure that
information is disseminated in a more responsible fashion - provided
there are the necessary checks and balances in place, either at an
industry or government level. Moreover, the lifting of the ban will
provide pharmaceutical companies with an opportunity to educate and
inform consumers - as much of the pharmaceutical advertising in the US
does.
