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Cholesterol Drug Battle 16 Nov 2009
Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. CNBC's Mike Huckman has the details.

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Jan.28

11:04 AM ET

Monday, 28 Jan 2008

Inverness Pregnancy Ad: Announcer Said That? (Yes He Did)

Posted By:Mike Huckman

Topics:Marketing | Advertising | Medicine | Mergers & Acquisitions | Pharmaceuticals

Sectors:Health Care Equipment and Services | Health Care | Pharmaceuticals

Companies:Procter & Gamble Co | Inverness Med Innovations | Matria Healthcare Inc

CNBC.com
A $4 billion company I've never covered before, Inverness Medical Innovations [IMA Loading... () ], is making news this morning with a $900 million acquisition of another company I've never covered--Matria Healthcare, Inc [MATR Loading... () ] . But that's not why I'm blogging about Inverness.

While sitting at home this weekend watching cable TV, (okay, I confess I caught it while 'channel surfing' past the "Miss America" pageant on TLC) my ears perked up when I saw this commercial, which I subsequently found on YouTube with 150,000 views:

Did the voiceover guy really say what I think he said?

I'm not an ad-man, but as best I can recall that may be the first time, outside of an "SNL" spoof maybe, that the vernacular--dare I say it, "pee"--is being used in a TV spot. What happened to "urine" or "wetness"? Or a measuring cup filled with water with blue food coloring being poured out?

What does this mean for commercials for "Huggies", "Depends", or the "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now" drug? And what about #2? Will the companies that sell toilet paper, laxatives, stool softeners, diarrhea remedies, incontinence and constipation drugs change their tune? Is the spot confined to cable or could it get past the broadcast network censors?

I've left a message for IMA's spokesperson to try to get the back story on the commercial, but I suspect he's taking care of merger business.

Update: I've learned that the test is marketed under a new joint venture between Inverness and Procter & Gamble [PG Loading... () ] .