Brought to you by drugs

New Zealand and the US of A are the only countries in the world that allow advertising of pharm products in the media. Unlike the US, which spends money hand over fist on meds, NZ is not full of rich hypochondriacs being sold on meds that ideally their medical professional is best set up to understand. Contra-indications and all that stuff.

TVNZ sales and marketing have run out of finance companies to sponsor their news, so they're reaching for the pharm boys:

Today's news is brought to you in association with Vannair™,  an asthma medicine. The government mandated warnings are partly obscured, clipped to include such great advice as "Use strictly as directed. Do exceed maximum dose." Click the image to embiggerate if you don't believe me.

Don't blame the pharm companies. It's their business to plough profits from the ill and infirm any way they can. They're not afraid of a wide variety of tactics, including this little bit of baby prostitution I tripped over when I was in Lynn Mall earlier in the year:

Buy Nurufen for Children or you're a bad parent! They don't mention the (nearly) dead babies in the ad, do they? But then, over-the-counter drugs are always under-reported compared those dangerous illegal ones.

This just in from TVNZ News. TV ad revenue is up! Huzzah! Pass the Botox!