Pfizer Inc. is rolling out new ads for Celebrex painkiller--the first television spots in two years after a previous campaign was halted due to worries that the drug was linked to heart attacks
and stroke. The ads were approved by U.S. regulators, and note that Celebrex and rival medications all carry pretty much the same warnings. Commercials then ask viewers to measure the risks against
Celebrex's ability to dull the pain of arthritis. The first will air during daytime talkfest "The View." Celebrex posted $3.3 billion in sales in 2004--before the last campaign was yanked--but plunged
to $1.7 billion a year later. "There has been a lot of confusion in the marketplace with Celebrex and all the other NSAIDs," says Steve Romano, Pfizer's vice president of global medical. "This is
going to take those risks head on." The return to the small screen follows a resumption of magazine ads last month.
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