Very, apparently. Check out this website for a new drug called Havidol (click to embiggen if necessary):

Wow… Looks pretty authentic, right? Check this out, though, from Reuters:

But Mahmood said it really took off over the Internet. In the first few days after the Web site (www.havidol.com) went up, it had 5,000 hits. The last time he checked it had reached a quarter of a million.

“The thing that amazes me is that it has been folded into real Web sites for panic and anxiety disorder. It’s been folded into a Web site for depression. It’s been folded into hundreds of art blogs,” he added.

The parody is in response to the tactics used by the drug industry to sell their wares to the public. Consumer advertising for prescription medications, which are a staple of television advertising in the United States, was legalised in the country in 1997.

Cooper said she intended the exhibit to be subtle.

“The drug ads themselves are sometimes so comedic. I couldn’t be outrageously spoofy so I really wanted it to be a more subtle kind of parody that draws you in, makes you want this thing and then makes you wonder why you want it and maybe where you can get it,” she added.

Mahmood said that in addition to generating interest among the artsy crowd, doctors and medical students have been asking about the exhibit.

“I think people identify with the condition,” he said.

The condition? I love it! He’s as funny as the ad! The name of the drug is Havidol. (Have-it-all). In the “gift shop” is a shirt that has a slogan on it that says, “When more is not enough.” You have to wonder if maybe these drug companies know exactly what they’re doing when they make these ads. “Here’s a condition you might have, check with your doctor, and ask for our drug.”

I think this is a very interesting social experiment that was done without even the realization of the experimenter.

Well done, Justine!

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