Merck & Co., Inc., Madagascar & Unfair Claritin Marketing?

In an outraged letter sent yesterday to the US Federal Trade Commission, nearly a dozen consumer advocacy groups are demanding the agency investigate Merck for using cartoon characters from the latest Madagascar animated film in an “inherently unfair,” “deceptive” and “dangerous” way to promote its grape-flavored Children’s Claritin allergy medicine. The tie-in pertains to both tablet and syrup forms of the over-the-counter medication. “This campaign is in violation of longstanding FTC precedent to protect children from child-directed marketing of OTC supplements and, by extension, OTC drugs,” wrote the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, which was joined by Berkeley Media Studies Group; Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood; Center for Digital Democracy; Corporate Accountability International; Eat Drink Politics and Public Citizen, among others.

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