An Allegorical Application Essay

Mr. Cleon M. McLeanDepartment of English

Ontario High School

Property of Mr. Cleon M. McLeanDepartment of English

Ontario High School

A modern-day allegorical example

The cave: pharmaceutical industry The fire: researched findings The puppeteers: pharmaceutical

industry marketing firms The shadows: media-marketing of

wonder drugs (E.g., Phen-Phen weight-losing drug)

The prisoners: the American public

Property of Mr. Cleon M. McLeanDepartment of English

Ontario High School

Allegorical essay: Big Pharma. The cave: pharmaceutical industry

Americans have come to give much credibility and credence to pharmaceutical companies and their drugs to better our health. This modern-day boom in demand for such drugs has spawn a multi-billion-dollar industry that seems to be more driven to make profits than to make people healthier. In fact, there has been no major cures discovered in the last fifty years. Rather, we have only had drugs that maintained the status quo—i.e., how we currently are. This gives the pharmaceutical companies a constant cash flow, rather than a one-time cash flow from selling drugs that cure.

Property of Mr. Cleon M. McLeanDepartment of English

Ontario High School

Allegorical essay: Big Pharma. The fire: researched findings

Although pharmaceutical companies may design their own research to suit their purposes, they are still mandated by law to produce credible and methodical clinical research before selling any drug to the American people. This research normally takes many years, and the results are submitted to the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) for approval. So, more often than not, this information is truthful information, with FDA approval.

Property of Mr. Cleon M. McLeanDepartment of English

Ontario High School

Allegorical essay: Big Pharma. The puppeteers: pharmaceutical industry’s

marketing and consulting firmsMost pharmaceutical companies hire marketing or consulting firms such as the Anderson Consulting Group, or CoActive Marketing Group to launch multi-million-dollar media campaigns to niche (specific) markets. These firms often take the researched findings and make them into memorable and digestible information for the public.

Property of Mr. Cleon M. McLeanDepartment of English

Ontario High School

Allegorical essay: Big Pharma. The shadows=media marketing of

wonder drugs (E.g., Phen-Phen weight-losing drug)The marketing or consulting firms hired by the pharmaceutical industry are often the best in their business. In fact, they are very skillful and strategic in marketing their brand-name drugs; sometimes even making the drugs seem like panacea—i.e., a cure-all. The aim here is oftentimes to hook in long-term customers.

Property of Mr. Cleon M. McLeanDepartment of English

Ontario High School

Allegorical essay: Big Pharma. The prisoners: the American public In her article “The Truth about the Drug Companies”, Marcia

Angell says, “Every day Americans are subjected to a barrage of advertising by the pharmaceutical industry. Mixed in with the pitches for a particular drug—usually featuring beautiful people enjoying themselves in the great outdoors—is a more general message. Boiled down to its essentials, it is this: ‘…You are the beneficiaries of this ongoing achievement of the American free enterprise system, so be grateful, quit whining, and pay up.’” (www.nybooks.com/articles/17244).

“Americans now spend a staggering $200 billion a year on prescription drugs, and that figure is growing at a rate of about 12 percent a year (down from a high of 18 percent in 1999)” (www.imshealth.com).

Property of Mr. Cleon M. McLeanDepartment of English

Ontario High School

Hook1. Why is it important to know the truth?2. What is the danger of losing (or never

having) truth in our lives?3. Should the truth ever be relative, meaning

that it can change based on situation?4. Why is it important that the knowledge we

have be truthful?5. What is the danger of losing (or never

having) knowledge in our lives?