Out of the roughly 200 countries in the entire world, only the United States and New Zealand allow prescription drugs to be advertised on television, and you might have wondered why. 

So before 1997 if you wanted to advertise a prescription drug, you had to list every single potential side effect that's listed on the drug's label. But then came Claret cla. So instead of saying Claritin, it'll clear up your allergies. They just said. Ask your doctor over and over again. Dude, it's time to see your doctor. Mr. Wil, the doctor will see you now. And that innovation forced the fda's hand and what led to the world we live in today. So in 1997 the FDA relaxed its rules. Now you could advertise on TV and say what the drug actually does. So long as you listed some of the side effects the most common ones, and then pointed people to a 1, 800 number, a website or a print ad where they could get the whole dirty details.

In any case, these ads don't seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon. Courts have consistently held that this kind of speech marketing speech is protected by the First Amendment, might as well get used to hearing Phil Mickelson talk about his arthritis, the NASA XB buzz about your television, and of course, the adorable gut guy.