Jon Lovitz, the 1990s Saturday Night Live actor and “Yeah, that’s the ticket” guy, has been signed by Centocor Ortho Biotech to do a series of humorous videos about psoriasis. The tagline is “Are You Serious?” and the website is http://seriousaboutpsoriasis.com. Centocor Ortho Biotech markets Remicade for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis; Stelara for psoriasis; and Simponi for psoriatic arthritis.
The move reflects an emerging “Star Wars” of sorts for companies marketing psoriasis treatments. Traditionally, prominent people were not associated with psoriasis. But now, Centocor has Jon Lovitz. Abbott has singer and actress LeAnn Rimes. And Amgen & Pfizer have golf star Phil Mickelson.
We used to sit around and wonder how we could get stars involved in psoriasis advocacy. The pharma and biotech companies have thankfully solved that problem. But of course, it presents new challenges of its own. Do Americans understand the seriousness of psoriasis when the most famous person they know with psoriasis is the seemingly perfect-skinned Rimes? Do they share our urgency for the need for more psoriatic arthritis research when the only person they know with the disease is one of the world’s greatest golfers? Do they grasp the sadness, loneliness and depression that confronts so many psoriasis patients when Lovitz sings “Girls no longer think I’m hot” in the Centocor video?
We’re not sure of the answer. We hoped for years that stars would give psoriasis visibility; but it’s not a cure-all (or a cure!). It’s a positive step, but just like stars do not lead lives like the rest of us, stars with psoriasis are not necessarily representative of the people Psoriasis Cure Now works with. The battle for research and a cure continues.
Category: Psoriasis Videos, Public policy issues
Tags: Centocor Ortho Biotech, Jon Lovitz, LeAnn Rimes, Phil Mickelson
