Insights for Pharma Super Bowl Ads

In years past, the pharma industry has had a minor presence during the Super Bowl, with just a handful of ads airing over the last 10 years, according to iSpot. That changed with Super Bowl LIX, which saw three pharma brands advertise: Pfizer, Novartis and Hims & Hers. Pfizer had the No. 1 game ad by likeability across all industries, a notable feat given that in general, pharma TV ads don't score well with audiences (people tend to dislike them). Here are some insights from iSpot around these ads:

• Pfizer's "Knock Out" was 19% more likable than the norm, with 41% of viewers saying the message (triumphing over cancer) was the "single best thing" about the ad. The top viewer emotions/reactions to the spot were "corporate responsibility," "inspiring" and "powerful." Additionally, it had 78% brand recognition, four points above the norm.

• The message was also considered the single best thing for "Attention Now" from Novartis, urging women to get early breast cancer screenings, as cited by 43% of viewers. Like Pfizer, "corporate responsibility" was the top emotion/reaction, with "philanthropy" also scoring high.

• Hims & Hers "Sick of the System" also had the message as the "single best thing" about the ad (cited by 31% of viewers) — but it was far more polarizing than the other two pharma spots. "Dishonest" and "inappropriate" were two top viewer emotion/reactions, with some viewers feeling like the ad's focus was fat-shaming, while other people were wary of weight loss medication as a "magic bullet" solution to obesity. One female viewer between the ages of 36-49 commented, "I worry that these companies are providing meds to just anyone, regardless of need. I also know they are usually unregulated. Additionally, the beginning of the ad read as fat phobic to me and I would've stopped watching as someone who is overweight, which should be your target audience.”