I know that at times I can be shy. But wait a minute! Social Anxiety Disorder? Shyness is a disease? Here is an article by Dr. Carl Elliott, M.D., that might shed light on this topic. " How to brand a disease--and sell a cure. The author explains how by creating a brand (disease), consumers can be naturally led to think that taking a drug is necessary and that the idea was theirs in the first place.
From the article:
"If you want to understand the way prescription drugs are marketed today, have a look at the 1928 book, "Propaganda," by Edward Bernays, the father of public relations in America.
For Bernays, the public relations business was less about selling things than about creating the conditions for things to sell themselves. When Bernays was working as a salesman for Mozart pianos, for example, he did not simply place advertisements for pianos in newspapers. That would have been too obvious.
Instead, Bernays persuaded reporters to write about a new trend: Sophisticated people were putting aside a special room in the home for playing music. Once a person had a music room, Bernays believed, he would naturally think of buying a piano. As Bernays wrote, "It will come to him as his own idea."
Just as Bernays sold pianos by selling the music room, pharmaceutical marketers now sell drugs by selling the diseases that they treat. The buzzword is "disease branding." read more...
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