del.icio.us tags 06.18.07

Social Pharma - GSK is using social media to promote its new weight loss drug, alli, and has launched a corporate blog, alliConnect. Steve Burton, who is "on the team" at GSK (not clear what he does -- just checked, he's the VP of the weight loss division) has used the drug himself and, in a moment of too much information, shared with us that, yes, he did indeed experience one of the drugs less than glamorous side effects. (I won't go into details, but Burton affectionately refers to it as his "oops experience.") As John Bell points out in his post on the topic, the message boards on the product site are where the real action is -- including the message in bold about reporting adverse effects ("To report the occurrence of treatment effects and/or any adverse events related to alli, you may call our customer service line . . . ).

Oh Canada - 901am has some news on our neighbors to the north: they love their social media. The numbers look pretty similar for the younger set, but, according to TNS Canadian Facts, 60 percent of Canadians in their 30's, 45 percent in their 40's and about 33 percent in their 50's have visited a social network site. So, are they going there to check up on their kids or to create a profile of their own? Not clear.