Comments on: LifeScan Marketing Gone Awry

By: Adventures in Mommyblogging Land | Lemonade Life

Adventures in Mommyblogging Land | Lemonade Life — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:06:37 +0000

[...] communicate effectively with their audience online *and* offline is really important. Remember that Johnson and Johnson One Touch PSA fiasco last year? Same concept, only instead of our community, it was [...]

By: Adventures in Mommyblogging Land « Lemonade Life

Adventures in Mommyblogging Land « Lemonade Life — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:47:24 +0000

By: Albert

Albert — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:18:03 +0000

Scary how it’s been 2 month since this post and it still/now shows up as the 3rd result when you Google “Lifescan”.

A clear example of what the community can do… Pharma Beware!

By: AmyT

AmyT — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:31:04 +0000

Actually yes, I did hear from David Detmers, Director of Communications for LifeScan. They were very humble about the whole snafu.

They sent me a more formal apology letter, which I declined to post because all it did was blame the agency.

However, I’m glad David posted here to make a statement directly to our community.

By: Bennet

Bennet — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:20:24 +0000

David Detmers wrote: “I am the Director of Communications for LifeScan… …promoting this campaign as a Public Service was inappropriate and not authorized by LifeScan. We will provide Amy Tenderich with a more thorough written explanation shortly.”

So Amy did you ever hear from the guy?

By: Bill the diabetesdoc

Bill the diabetesdoc — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:48:31 +0000

I had received the e-mails promoting the pseudo-PSA, and have been watching this discussion recently. I contacted the person who sent the e-mail and argued that it wasn’t a PSA; she responded that indeed it was. Here are her two e-mails; first the original:

I’m hoping you can help spread an important health message to diabetics by posting the attached banner on your website. This banner links to a Public Service Announcement about colored monitors, and explains how choice of color may help diabetics feel less clinical and more personal about their diabetes, which will encourage them to test regularly.
OneTouch is giving away 10,000 color monitors as part of this public awareness initiative. Here is a link to the PSA: http://www.hhrtv.com/online/lifescan.html

Will you please support this public awareness effort and post the banner on your website? It is best to open the banner in Internet Explorer, as there are 4 slides. The banner is available in 728 x 90, 468×60, 300×250, 120×600, 140×140 or we can resize it to your specifications. Please let me know what banner size works best for you.

Best Regards,

and her response to a question I asked:

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your response. It is a public service awareness campaign, so there is no budget provided by Lifescan. We were hoping you could place the banner in the space of an unsold ad? Please take a moment to view the banner and public service announcement. Thank you.

Best Regards,

Well, I later contacted her boss at the PR firm, and he indicated that she was quite wrong, and that it was not meant to be a PSA. And he indicated that yes, they had retained the master list of the folks she’d contacted, and would send out an apology for the misinformation.

But no apology has arrived at my e-mail address. I’m beginning to think that none will be, either.

Oh well. Another marketing failure. Sort of like Exubera, eh?

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:47:34 +0000

Hello lifescan, dexcom, medtronic, whoever:
Make a meter that is as accurate as blood glucose testing and doesn’t require me to bleed 10 times a day, or to have anything stuck in me. Is it so impossible? If a dog can detect low BGs (check out dogs4diabetics) then there must be some chemical signal we’re missing.

I know it’s hard but can you just do it anyway? It’s the right thing and although you won’t be making $billions on test strips/sensors/other-exorbitantly-priced disposable parts, somehow you will be repaid.

Then you can make lame youtube videos about how green is lucky and we will love you anyway.

By: Albert

Albert — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:42:40 +0000

Great job Amy on getting Lifescan to notice. I think this is perfect example of what Chrissie was referring to in one of her recent posts. It’s nice to know that our collective muscle really makes a difference.

By: Jim Paige

Jim Paige — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:40:56 +0000

I wondered what happened to airhead teenagers after they grow up – they become “COLOR CONSULTANTS” and opine on how powerful colored meters are for diabetics…..

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:36:02 +0000

Wow. This is so funny. We (diabetics) are a joke to be exploited. They must think we are stupid. Perhaps we are. Yes, a hot pink meter solves my diabetes! Instant control!

Type 2 diabetics who have the disease because they are obese/overweight: Get off your duff, lose the weight, eat right, cut out the crap, and exercise at least 1 hour a day. Do it. Don’t get angry at me, save your energy for Big Pharma and the companies that want you to suffer and pay them to live. Why pay for treatment you may not need to have?

I am saying this to HELP you, believe it or not. We wouldn’t be in such a (Type 2)diabetes epidemic if more people would step up and say what needs to be said. If changes are made early, Type 2 diabetes does NOT have to be progressive. That is a myth that the ADA loves to promote so people don’t feel guilty, and keep donating. It is a conflict of interest for ADA to speak the truth. Help yourself before it is too late.

Type 1 diabetics: It is sad that no better technology exists for us. We are always lumped in with the Type 2 diabetics as having a “manageable” disease and blamed when things go wrong. If I wanted a funky colored meter, I’d paint mine myself. Unfortunately, I have more important diabetes issues to worry about. The amount of money spent on this ad campaign for colored meters could have gone to much better use.

This “PSA” is insulting to our intelligence, and highlights the fact that diabetics are cash cows.

I do thank Amy for her posting on this…this is flat out ridiculous.