American Pharmaceutical Review
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I have always enjoyed history.
In fact, I have enjoyed it so much over my life – that I actually looked forward to my history class lectures in college. I’m not sure many others did.
Over the years I have found myself particularly drawn to naval history.
While war is, of course, terrible, I have always been fascinated by the ships, crews and naval engagements of various conflicts throughout history.
In particular, I’ve always been intrigued by the gradual evolution of navies, as they moved from wood/sail to iron/steam, and finally to steel and turbines.
Leading up to World War 1 and until the advent of the aircraft carrier afterwards, battleships were the most powerful ships a navy would put to sea. Indeed, in that time frame, a battleship was viewed as the most technically advanced machine on the planet, and projected a country’s wealth, power, and manufacturing know-how.
During this time frame Great Britain’s navy ruled the seas. Great Britain had a large empire to protect, was an island nation, and had the shipbuilding resources and technology to out build every other nation.
Great Britain also had an uncanny ability for naming its ships with truly terrific names. Of course, many of their ships had predictable names like Queen Elizabeth, Duke of York, and Lord Nelson, but others were truly magnificent (and yes, Magnificent was used as a name!) and included such names as Dreadnought, Thunderer, Conqueror, Invincible, Indefatigable, Formidable and numerous others.
Great Britain also used names like these for their smaller ships, such as using the name Powerful, for one of its armored cruisers. This ship, with a great name, really wasn’t that powerful, but served the English navy very well. Launched in 1897, the ship had a fairly innocuous career, finally being sold for scrap in 1929.
So, the reason for all of this babbling, is really my roundabout way to get to the word ‘powerful’.
Innovation.org is the website for America’s Biopharmaceutical Companies, an organization committed to “bring an end to the burdens of disease, in all its forms.”
“Go Boldly” is the organization’s tagline – and it’s a good one. Biopharm companies are currently developing many of the treatments that will make significant impacts on the lives of many.
The organization also promotes itself and its members in various ways – perhaps the most widely seen are its television commercials.
A recent commercial depicts how hard researchers are working at biopharm companies to develop new treatments, and also shows the hope given to patients.
But, is the message powerful enough? I understand the organization wants to put a face to the companies, but showing a researcher jogging (maybe thinking about a solution to a problem) isn’t a very powerful image.
In my (humble) opinion, if you want people to support the industry, and not get caught up in the politics, you need to show more successful outcomes – people getting better – and enjoying life.
Images like these would leave a powerful impression on the public.