Are TV Ads for the HPV Vaccine Too Good?

by Dorothee Royal-Hedinger · 2009-04-03 06:56:00 UTC
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Today I saw this ad for the HPV Vaccine Gardasil on television and was struck by how much I identified with the women portrayed in it. Judging by the sleek production value and retro-chic set, this vaccine is no longer just being targeted at 10-12 year old girls. In fact, these smart and creative-looking twenty-somethings look like they would be my friends. And who wouldn't trust their friends?

Clearly, this means Merck (the company that makes Gardasil) is doing a great job with marketing to my demographic but there's just one problem: I'm not going to choose to get the HPV vaccine. Despite Gardasil's almost frighteningly cute commercial, I'm perfectly happy with regularly scheduled pap smears to detect any risk for cervical cancer. I'm also not satisfied by the lack of long-term testing for the product and I'm a bit spooked by reports of serious illness and death associated with the vaccine.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that young women's reproductive health has become such a mainstream concept that these commercials show up on prime-time television. However, I worry that with so much money being pumped into this campaign, women and girls might forget that getting this vaccine is a personal choice, not a requirement.

And this is not an unjustified fear, as Jen mentioned in her post, Reverse the HPV Vaccination Mandate for Immigrant Women, getting treated with Gardasil is no longer voluntary for immigrant woman entering the United States. That means women are being subjected to treatment that has known side effects - without their consent. That sounds an awful lot like using human guinea pigs to me...

Especially now that Merck is pushing for boys and men to get vaccinated as well, I'm really starting to wonder how much of this campaign is about public health and how much is purely profit-driven.

What are your thoughts? Have you had the vaccine?

Dorothee Royal-Hedinger
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