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EM 29 - Naming Drugs: Superstars
You can’t fight human nature.
Heroes who save us get our thanks, respect and veneration. But the true stars in our lives are more likely to be those who bring us pleasure and enhance our lifestyles. Theirs become the names we look for and remember.
Drug makers haven’t overlooked this fact. They now market a new kind of pharmaceutical - the lifestyle drug. This includes medicines developed to treat problems previously thought of as purely psychological or a common consequence of maturity. Such drugs have the potential to become blockbuster products.
Naming these kinds of drugs raises a special question. Generally, asemantic, or never-before-used words or word fragments, stand a better chance of passing government approval. As we’ve seen, these names can be made to sound appealing, but convey no real meaning.
However in the world of lifestyle drugs, spin doctors appeal directly to patients. How can they pass the inspectors while satisfying their pharma clients demands for attracting customers?
They’ve mastered the knack of creating relational names. These connect in some way back to the condition being treated. Often the name suggests an image of the desired result. Because deep-pocket public-awareness campaigns will promote these names, they’ve got to be durable enough to stand up outside doctors’ offices, something not generally demanded of their asemantic counterparts.
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Where do you find them? If the medications are those prescribed for the dreaded men’s malady, erectile dysfunction, you could see their labels sponsoring superstars in the sports world. One name climbed on the shoulders of Major League Baseball. Another rode the carts of the Professional Golf Association Tour. Yet another huddled with the National Football League. Their emblems appear at yacht and car racing events.
Clever naming and brand positioning has taken treatment of an embarrassing male condition and turned it into a superstar activity. By inventing and associating the names with youthful masculinity, speed, and power, the focus on a problem has been shifted to celebration of an aspiration.
Two of these male lifestyle drugs bear a look. To many, Viagra suggests the endurance and force of Niagara Falls. It’s competitor Levitra combines the root for life, the appealing idea of levitation or rising and the phonic rhythm of the word, libido.
With heavy advertising backing them, these names sell not only the drug, but also introduced a new condition into the vernacular. You couldn’t ask for a better way of feeding the spiral of awareness, hope, social acceptance, purchase.
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Lifestyle enhancement of this type sells well around the world. But in the age of the global competition, can one name be the brand of choice for a whole world?
Apparently not. In the huge anything-goes market of India more than one drug company has copied these prized pharmaceuticals. And to sell them, new names have been developed. In India the male performance enhancer goes by the handle of Silagra. For Latin America the name Tarzia was considered, but Eviva ultimately prevailed. In the Middle East, it became plain and simple Erecto.
Before we depart the drug-addled world of name-smithing, here are the answers to the question raised in EM 28, Which are the real, and which the fictional drug names.
Norvasc & Novril: The real drug is Norvasc, a treatment for hypertension and chest pain. Novril is a highly-addictive Steven King analgesic. Qualex & Seroquel: The real drug is Seroquel, an antipsychotic medication for schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Qualex is a MadTV housewife tranquilizer. Klonopin & Retinax: The real drug is Klonopin, used for treating seizures and panic disorder. Retinax is a Star Trek cure for far sightedness. Tretonin & Diazepam: The real drug is Diazepam, the generic form of Valium. Tretonin is a Stargate immunity-boosting drug.
Stay healthy.