• by Les Luchter , Staff Writer, April 20, 2023

Bayer of late has had some female-oriented campaigns for its over-the-counter antihistamines.

A few weeks ago, the company was positioning its new-to-OTC Astepro as a female aphrodisiac via ads equating sneezing with feeling less sexy.

Then, on behalf of long-established OTC brand Claritin, it came out in favor of female trees over male trees!

I didn’t even know that trees come in two genders -- but, according to Bayer, not only are trees either male or female, but the female ones don’t produce pollen!

Yet cities have been favoring male trees for decades, because, in Wikipedia’s words, “plants with female flowers produce fruits and flowers that litter the landscape.”

Claritin has launched an initiative called The DiversiTree Project, teaming up with The Arbor Day Foundation’s Community Canopy program to sponsor female tree-planting events starting in New Orleans and Richmond, Virginia -- two locales that recently placed in the top 25 of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s rundown of the most challenging areas to live with allergies in the U.S.

If it seems strange for Claritin to be going after allergens themselves rather than just fighting allergy symptoms, rest assured that Bayer hasn’t stopped reminding consumers that Claritin still does the latter.

A just-launched spring campaign, in fact, goes directly after Johnson & Johnson’s competitor Zyrtec by citing that Claritin “won’t make you drowsy like Zyrtec can.” The creative centers on such springtime sports as basketball, baseball, track and auto racing. The brand has also tapped actor-turned-race-car-driver Frankie Muniz (“Malcolm in the Middle”) as the face of the campaign, which recently staged an experiential event offering New Yorkers the chance to drive a custom-built go-kart called the Clairitin Clear 500.

Back in the trees, meanwhile, Denise Vitola, Bayer’s vice president brand integration PR, social and influencer, tells Pharma and Health Insider that “with pollen production expected to double by 2040,” the DiversiTree Project “is all about balance. If we, as Claritin, do not work with the environment, we will never achieve a better world where allergies are manageable.”

This tactic of planting female trees is inspiring -- but will take a while.

“We are taking steps to reestablish equality among male ‘pollen-producing’ trees with female ‘non-pollen-producing’ trees,” explains Vitola. “This imbalance is a result of decades of urban planning policy, so will take time to address.”

 “We’re aiming to help communities one tree at a time and are committed to research within the field of plant science, all with the goal of having everyone enjoy the outdoors every day,” declared Catherine Vennat, Bayer’s vice president/general manager, Upper Respiratory, in announcing the initiative.

So Claritin has also funded a study by Dr. Dan Katz, senior research associate at Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science, to determine the potential “for planting low-pollen trees, including female trees, to reduce airborne pollen concentrations in New York City over the next 50 years.”

Meanwhile, as Bayer -- the rare pharma giant yet to depart the OTC business -- stays active in the OTC anti-allergy biz, it recently sold off skincare brands including Solarcaine (sunburn relief) and A+D (diaper rash) to Wellspring Consumer Healthcare, which also markets Bactine(germ-focused skincare), Bonine (motion sickness) and Emetrol(anti-nausea).

Bayer had previously sold its Coppertone suncare line to Beiersdorf in 2019.