Skip to main content

The timeline can be navigated by dragging the pointer on the timeline bar, located at the bottom of the screen on the desktop version and on the left of the screen on mobile. To filter by a specific topic, make a selection on the dropdown “Filters” menu or click “Search” to do a keyword search. To learn more, click “Read More” below.

Read More

Pharmaceutical company president reflects in an interview that doctors are his industry's "primary customer."

1981

PHA
MED
LEG
ECON
CORP

In response, the interviewer asks the president of Boots Pharmaceuticals, "why not target the consumer?"

This will lead to the company's decision to hire a communications director to design the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising in 1983, which will be the first time prescription drugs are marketed on television. Within 30 days, the ads will be ordered to be taken down, followed by 30 years of a continued legal battle.