November 28, 2005: Drug Companies Allegedly Using Sex to Sell Drugs

The New York Times publishes an article suggesting that pharmaceutical companies are using sex to sell their drugs. Physicians interviewed in the article indicate that the sexual marketing of drugs is widespread. “There’s a saying that you’ll never meet an ugly drug rep,” says Dr. Thomas Carli of the University of Michigan. T. Lynn Williamson, a cheering advisor at the University of Kentucky, tells the Times that recruiters from pharmaceutical companies routinely call him looking for prospective sales representatives. “They watch to see who’s graduating,” he explains. “They don’t ask what the major is. Exaggerated motions, exaggerated smiles, exaggerated enthusiasm—they learn those things, and they can get people to do what they want.” He says approximately two dozen cheerleaders from the university, mostly women but also some men, have gone on to work for the drug industry. The newspaper also interviews Gregory C. Webb, the owner of Spirited Sales Leaders, a company that helps former cheerleaders find work in the sales industry. “I’ve had people who are going right out, maybe they’ve been out of school for a year, and get a car and make up to $50,000, $60,000 with bonuses, if they do well,” he explains. His company’s website boasts that a “large number of former Varsity employees have secured sales positions and built successful careers in various fields, such as pharmaceutical and medical sales.” The website’s header combines a large photo of a hospital room with a photo of a cheerleader. [New York Times, 11/28/2005; Spirited Sales Leaders, 7/23/2006]