Advertisements on BCO pages should be marked "Advertisement"

otter

Why isn't the commercial advertising on the BCO website marked "Advertisement"?

Most of us have been here long enough to remember a time when readers of Breastcancer.org were not subjected to commercial advertising on every page of the website. Now, though, each page apparently contains three "dynamic", interactive ads that invite the reader to click on the contents of the box for more information.

The information in the boxes looks, at first glance, to be "educational".  Here are some examples: 

"Take the Myth vs. Fact Challenge... A low white blood cell count can be a potentially serious side effect of chemotherapy -- Myth or Fact?"  Readers are encouraged to click on "Myth" or "Fact".  Although this box is designed like an interactive quiz, it contains links that take the reader to a commercial website promoting the drug "Neulasta".  Of course, the "Neulasta" website belongs to Amgen, the pharmaceutical company that makes Neulasta.

"Are You Ready for Chemotherapy? ... Click to learn more... ".  This box offers a list of topics pertaining to some of the side effects chemotherapy.  The purpose of the box appears to be educational, but it isn't -- it's another advertisement for Neulasta.  The items in the list are active links; clicking on them takes the reader to a different part of Amgen's "Neulasta" website. 

" 'I have family obligations .. and I have breast cancer.  How will I adjust to getting chemotherapy?'  Find out about a treatment you can take at home or work."  This helpful-looking box is, of course, another advertisement.  It contains a link to the website for Xeloda.  The site belongs to Roche, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures Xeloda.

The colorful, interactive boxes that have bloomed all over the BCO site are nothing more than direct-to-consumer advertisements of prescription drugs.  Yes, the links in those boxes take the reader to "educational" sections of the drug companies' websites; but the boxes serve to promote the benefits of those drugs to breast cancer patients who are not yet using them.  The boxes would need to be marked "Advertisement" if they appeared in magazines or newspapers.  Why not on this website?

The "About Us" section of the Breastcancer.org website says this about the mission of BCO:  "Breastcancer.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing the most reliable, complete, and up-to-date information about breast cancer.  Our mission is to help women and their loved ones make sense of the complex medical and personal information about breast cancer, so they can make the best decisions for their lives."

Given the emphasis in that mission statement on the dedication to providing "reliable, complete" information, I think BCO is obligated to mark the commercial content of its pages as "Advertisements".  When commercial advertising and unbiased educational information appear side-by-side on the website of a nonprofit organization, the distinction between the advertising and the noncommercial content ought to be crystal clear to all readers.

Right now, it isn't.

otter 

crazy4carrots

Agreed.  It's vital to have corporate support to keep this website operating.  But even magazines post "Advertisement" above ads which purport to offer health advice.

linda

TenderIsOurMight

I'd prefer not to have them mislead too. They start out sounding like Q&A's from bc.org itself.

Sigh, another sign of the times, yet I do support your post.

Tender

cookiegal

I realize they are ads, but it could never hurt to have labels.

Marple

I totally agree.  One comes in here for the first time scared, confused and often in tears.  We can't see or think straight........heck and we post on the wrong threads.........so how can we know that these ads are ADS and not info from BCO?  I for one, coming in here for the first time sure wouldn't! 

Edit to add.........thank you Otter for pointing this out.

AnnNYC

Totally agree, Otter.

swimangel72

Thanks for starting this thread Otter - I totally agree with everything you said. I hope you will get the attention of the Moderators.

Moderators

Thanks for this. I'll let the editors know. 

Best, 

Melissa

otter

Thanks for looking into this, Melissa.

otter