Agony advertising

This term refers to those commercials that depict in diagrammatical detail the internal and intestinal effects of heartburn, indigestion, clogged sinus cavities, and hammer induced headaches. Normally it has been suggested that people repel these types of ads. Despite this many pharmaceutical companies continue to run such commercials with the hope that they may appeal to certain segment of the population that suffers from ailments that are not visible, and which therefore, evoke little sympathy from family and friends, their complaints are legitimized by commercials with which they immediately identify.