Seen the ad? Check out the facts

AD WATCH  In print and in video, we'll examine drug ads and other pitches.

As a kid, I was captivated by comic-book ads for model airplanes that promised "all the thrills of real jet flight." A few years later, I was only slightly more skeptical about the exercise programs that would transform me from a sand-in-my-face weakling to a buff beach bum.

But there's no fooling Consumer Reports. Throughout our 72-year history, we've been dissecting advertising claims and helping readers like you learn the facts so that you don't get snookered by the hype. This month, we test whether the exercise gadgets you see on TV can really give you the physique of your dreams. (Turns out, not so much; without also changing your diet, it could take from one to nine months to lose a single pound.)


A new focus on Drug ads

On our Web site, our new Consumer Reports AdWatch takes the form of video commentary we've produced to help the public parse prescription-drug TV commercials. They're at www.ConsumerReports.org/health.

Nothing has had a more startling effect on the demand for a product, or more serious consequences, than direct-to-consumer drug ads. Our first AdWatch video examines a commercial for Requip, a drug approved for Restless Legs Syndrome. When drug trials showed that Requip, a Parkinson's medication, could also calm some fidgety legs, RLS streaked across the public's radar, and ads quickly followed.

For those who suffer from RLS, the availability of a new medication was a relief. But even adults who never thought they had a problem are being convinced that they do by ads showing the agony of the feet and the ecstasy of the peaceful night's sleep that a pill can bring.

Viewer response to this first AdWatch video was fast and, in some cases, furious. Some of you applauded our criticism of a pharmaceutical industry that offers up a disease so that it can sell a cure. Others accused us of making light of an illness that can cause sleeplessness and worse.

I want to emphasize that this and future AdWatch pieces are aimed at mass marketing to consumers. We are in no way dismissing those who suffer from a disease; we are questioning the need for ads that drive up health-care costs by relentlessly pushing drugs to people who don't need them.