Abbott Laboratories has instituted a 400% price hike on their key AIDS drug Norvir. Various groups are naturally upset about this and have created a parody of Abbott advertisements in order to express their displeasure. Abbott, naturally, doesn't like that - but instead of using their own speech to fight back, they are using their economic muscle to have the parody ads pulled from various publications. This just goes to show the quality of Abbott Laboratories ethics and how much they value things like speech and dissent.
BioSpace reports:
AHF's print ad parodies a four-color Abbott print ad that is currently running in targeted gay press outlets nationwide in which Abbott announces, 'Expanded Access to Norvir, ... at no cost ... ' on the heels of the company's instituting perhaps the largest single price increase ever on an existing drug. In the latest version, the parody ad invites people to join in a picket over the price hike that is taking place before Abbott's Annual General Meeting on Friday April 23, in Abbott Park, Illinois.
"Abbott Laboratories appears to be attempting to intimidate the gay and AIDS communities in a brazen move to stifle AHF's outspoken criticism of Abbott by pressuring the Windy City Times and Frontiers to reject or alter our ad," said Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President. "It was bad enough for Abbott to hike the price on its eight year-old drug by 400%. Now, they are trying to tamp down AIDS advocates' free speech rights. AHF will continue to run this parody ad to bring attention to Abbott's outrageous actions both on the drug's pricing as well as Abbott's statements and actions surrounding this price increase. I urge both the publishers and the gay and AIDS communities at large to fight back against Abbott's bald-faced, punitive attempt at censorship."
Of course no company is obligated to advertise in any publication that also carries material critical of that company. This is why it's not common for magazines to run articles critical of major advertisers - it's a basic problem of media corruption in America. To see an advertiser use their clout in order to have dissenting views pulled, though, is a bit more rare. They usually seem to understand that doing so never looks good and only makes them appear to be fascist bullies.
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