Pharmaceutical marketing was forever changed on May 19^th, 1983, when Boots Pharmaceuticals aired the first-ever prescription drug ad. The 22-second video featured the then-president of Boots telling consumers that Boots’ version of Ibuprofen would cost consumers “considerably less” than if they were to take Motrin. The ad aired for 48 hours before the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pulled it.

After the Boots’ commercial aired, other pharmaceutical companies approached the FDA with the intention of releasing their own ad. As a result of this pressure, the FDA announced that pharmaceutical companies can start airing drug commercials, but they had to adhere to strict guidelines. They had to list side effects and could not make specific claims.

Schering-Plough released the first ad for the now popular allergy medicine, Claritin. The ad never directly stated what Claritin was for, other than the tagline, “Clear nights and days are here.” Schering-Plough was able to bypass all the FDA’s regulations, which meant it was time for them to make a change.

Because of the Claritin ad, the FDA reevaluated its 1985 ruling. Now, pharmaceutical companies could make specific claims about their product and did not have to list the information they were previously required to. Now, all they had to do was urge consumers to ask their doctors about the product. This decision paved the way for the drug ads we see today.

Swarz Pharma made history when they aired the first commercial for a generic drug. They competed with AstraZeneca, whose patent for their bestselling heartburn medicine expired the previous year. Swarz Pharma came out on top, and their medicine is still a top seller.

Allergan’s commercial for their bipolar disorder medicine, Vraylar was one of the first ads to depict what living with bipolar disorder was like. They used metaphors taken from real patient examples to show the general population how bipolar disorder affects the mind.