The other day I was looking at BankRate.com. They have some handy tools to help with finances, moving and estimating the cost ofliving in one city vs. another city. When I looked at the list of things they show a cost comparison for I noticed Lipitor medication – the stuff that is supposed to reduce your cholesterol. A screen shot of the calculator results is below:
At first it just seemed strange but on second thought it is genius. As you may know, pharma advertising is fairly heavily regulated and when ads appear online, they are usually supposed to marked as such. I guess this Lipitor placement is maybe just that a product placement. Maybe it came as part of another ad deal and can be considered editorial so that something as irrelevant as the cholesterol drug Lipitor can be included in something as unrelated to pharmaceuticals as a moving calculator. This appears to be a great way to not have to label it as an ad and not worry about any fair balance or other regulatory statements. What it is likely to do is get a fair number of people to notice it, wonder what does this Lipitor thing in the cost of living calculator have to do with anything and then go search online to find out what it is.
For more independent information on Lipitor go to WorstPills.org & to read up on what the manufacturer has to say, visit Lipitor.com
It looks like there are other sponsorships in the list of things to consider when moving. Cascade appeared in the list which seems little more harmless than Lipitor. The stuff they do included in the cost of living calculator is useful so if you are going to move and want to see how the cost of living compares, go use the BankRate.com Cost of Living Calculator.
