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An adman who transformed the pharmaceutical advertising industry. In 1951, while working for the ad firm William Douglas McAdams, Sackler created a massive advertising campaign for Terramycin, a synthetic antibiotic created by Charles Pfizer and Company. Sackler’s goal for the campaign was to make Pfizer a household name, and he succeeded. Sackler’s innovative campaign was focused on frequent, in-person contact with doctors. Sackler sent doctors postcards advertising the drug and sent sales representatives to doctors’ offices. The campaign was successful: in 1952, Terramycin generated $45 million in sales. Sackler went on to buy William Douglas McAdams, as well as the then-unknown drug company Purdue Frederick. Sackler would use similar advertising strategies in his later campaign for Valium in the 1960s, this time going so far as to send salespeople into doctors’ offices bearing free samples of the drug. Sackler’s work in advertising showed the pharmaceutical industry “that amazing things can be achieved with direct selling and intensive direct advertising,” a philosophy that, after his death, Purdue would employ in their OxyContin campaign.
Arthur Sackler Quotes in Dreamland
The Dreamland quotes below are all either spoken by Arthur Sackler or refer to Arthur Sackler. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 1: Swing with OxyContin Quotes
Many of these methods—premiums, trips, giveaways—were time-tested strategies that grew from the revolution Arthur Sackler began and were refined over time by many pharmaceutical companies. Only this time, the pill being marketed contained a large whack of a drug virtually identical to heroin.
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Quinones describes the methods that Purdue Pharma employed to market their new drug, OxyContin, to doctors. These “time-tested strategies” had their origins in Arthur Sackler’s earlier campaigns for Terramycin and Valium in the 1950s and 1960s, respectively. Sackler, an adman and former psychiatrist, is credited with creating modern pharmaceutical advertising. In his earlier campaigns, Sackler employed sales representatives to go to doctors’ offices to market to doctors directly. Salespeople often gave doctors coupons for free prescriptions to pass along to their patients. Sackler purchased Purdue in 1952. He died almost a decade before OxyContin hit the market, but the company Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur labo
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Arthur Sackler Character Timeline in Dreamland
The timeline below shows where the character Arthur Sackler appears in Dreamland. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1: The Adman
In New York City in 1951, Arthur Sackler, an adman, meets with Charles Pfizer and Company. Sackler is 39 and a former psychiatrist....
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Sackler soon takes on Charles Pfizer and Company as a client. The company has recently founded...
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In 1963, Sackler acquires the right to sell Valium. As with Terramycin, he pushes direct contact with doctors,...
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Sackler continues to be active in the pharmaceutical industry. He discovers an opportunity to make even...
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Part 1: Swing with OxyContin
...grows from 35,000 to 110,000. Salespeople push their drugs using direct marketing, just as Arthur Sackler did with Valium in the 1960s. Leading the pharmaceutical “arms race” is Pfizer, now the...
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