Which ads, if any, raise ethical questions?According to Pew Research, pharmaceutical companies spent $27 billion in 2012 promoting their drugs. All but one of the largest 10 firms spent more on marketing than they did on research and development. From 2012 to 2015, direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing of drugs increased from $3.2 billion to almost $6 billion annually.

Advertisements promoting prescription drugs have increased significantly within the United States since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed regulations in 1997 to allow DTC advertising—most countries still forbid such advertising. Among the most widely marketed drugs have been Lipitor, Zocor, Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium, Celebrex, Vioxx, Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, Propecia, and Zyban. These drug names, literally household names today, were unheard of before the turn of the century; yet, together they accounted for over $20 billion in annual sales.