なに? Love & Other Drugs for Real? ばか!

Like many men in this country, I really hate watching sappy chick flicks that always end up sucking in the end. But if you are in a relationship like me they become quite unavoidable. Recently, Tina and I watched the film Love and Other Drugs which centered around a pharmacutical rep and the questionable practices they employ to promote and in some cases corrupt the medicinal prescription process in doctors offices via free samples and other scrupulous means. And just like the movie I have seen stunts like this in the Cedars-Sini parking structure by female pharmacutical reps hiking up their shortened skirts and unbuttoning their blouses to entice a prospective male physicians into a clients. Sounds sleazy? It is! Worse, it's not only sad, it's true!

Now you are probably wondering what the hell does this have to do with the American Mishima blog that is focused on the happenings of the Japanese-American Community and other Cultural happenings of Japan? Well I will tell you. Since the release of Love and Other Drugs more people have become aware of the corruption in the medical industry. It so happens that many medical offices no longer allow sample displays out in the open. But since we love all things Nikkei and just happen to go to "Asian" doctors who we will not mention names in this article, we found it amusing to see carefully placed products from the makers of Cialis - an erectile dsyfunction boner drug found convieniently around the doctors office. As you can see from the photo Cialis makes sanitizing hand soap placed at the sink supplanting the normal hand soap purchased by the doctors office. Talk about blatant product placement! I had no idea Cialis made hand soap! But oh it gets more blatant!

Now check this out! Cialis makes latex rubber gloves! And look how they are placed by the Cialis rep right on top of the gloves used by the doctor. Is this because our doctor is from Japan or because they assume no one is paying attention?  Is it safe to say reps are deliberately targeting Asian doctors or is the problem worse than the movie implied? Or is something racist going on here? We asked the staff about this and they were suprised to see these products there and were not happy about it given that they have on more than one occassion chased out female reps out of their office. Now don't go looking for Cialis hand soap or latex gloves because they are not sold to the public and as a result you are just not going to find them. On one level it is funny that a company that makes penis errection drugs also supplys their clients with latex gloves and hand soap. And on another level it's kind of insulting to see such blatant product placement and the assumption of the rep that no one would notice. What's next Cialis? KY Jelly to go with those gloves and soap after that artificial erection? Seriously!

Well going back to Love and Other Drugs, it was the first chick flick Tina picked out that didn't completly suck for it made us aware of the sleazy tactics of the pharmacutical industry. For that we only have one word in Nihongo to say on this matter: ばか!