Opinion: Pfizer Super Bowl ad proves just how damaging Biden’s COVID response has been for America

Opinion: Pfizer Super Bowl ad proves just how damaging Biden’s COVID response has been for America

Why did Pfizer spend millions of dollars on a Super Bowl ad? And why are they paying Travis Kelce $20 million to act as their vaccine spokesperson?

Because their reputation — and the reputation of America’s medical authorities — needs serious rehabilitation. A Gallup survey conducted last fall found only 18 percent of Americans have a very or somewhat positive view of the pharmaceutical industry, down from 25 percent in 2022. That’s a worse rating than any other industry group but retail.

This is one of the most damaging leftovers of the Biden presidency.

Joe Biden’s authoritarian approach to managing the COVID-19 outbreak, forcing all workplaces of 100 or more people to require the vaccine or regularly test their employees and the censorship of opposing views on vaccine side effects and on treatments, not only trampled on Americans’ rights — it may have led to preventable deaths.

Nothing could have highlighted Americans’ distrust of the pharmaceutical industry more starkly than the Pfizer ad, which aimed to rebuild not only its brand but general attitudes toward medicine. It’s hard to imagine a world where a leading drug-maker feels the need to remind people that science has led to life-saving breakthroughs like the invention of penicillin and treatments for cancer, yet here we are.

The ad, wedged between promotions for beer and donuts and other more conventional fare, combined a jazzy upbeat tune with pictures of the founders of Pfizer, seeming to place them in the same scientific galaxy as Sir Isaac Newton and Copernicus, who came alive in their portraits long enough to join in the fun. It was memorable, mainly because it seemed so out of place.

Pfizer’s problem is, first, that sales of its COVID-19 vaccines and therapies have cratered as the disease has faded. But more important, Pfizer is dealing with backlash against Biden’s heavy-handed dictates about vaccines.

Americans got their backs up about being forced to take the COVID-19 jab, and were angry that the inoculation (along with others) turned out not to be as effective as the government promised it would be. When President Biden reassured the nation, “If you’re vaccinated, you’re not going to be hospitalized, you’re not going to be in the IC unit, and you’re not going to die,” as he did in a town hall in June 2021, he was not telling the truth.

The vaccines that were quickly developed under former President Trump appear to have helped people survive infection, but did not stop the spread. As many students of viruses predicted early on, the bug mutated continually, bringing new variants of the disease, but also becoming weaker over time. The death rate dropped, and people moved on.

But overpromising on the vaccine was not the Biden administration’s worst crime; it was their effort to shut down all discourse about COVID-19, including exploration of possible treatments and therapies to combat the virus, that did irreparable damage. Pressuring Facebook and Twitter to “demote” (i.e., render invisible) criticism of the vaccines — including the emergence of possible side effects — was heinous, as was banning discussion of its likely origin in Wuhan.

Amazon was also in on the suppression game, according to internal emails, after being asked by the Biden White House in early 2021 to censor books critical of COVID vaccines that supposedly contained “propaganda” and “misinformation.”

Remember, that at the time, the vaccines were brand-new and had hardly been tested. No one — including “public health experts” — was in a position to determine which claims were valid and which were not. Remember, too, that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Briefing Documents on the trials of the Pfizer and Moderna shots reported instances of vaccinated people contracting Bell’s palsy, causing temporary paralysis of the facial muscles.

People railed against the know-it-all attitude of the government’s medical establishment, personified by Dr. Anthony Fauci who, in one unimaginably pompous moment, declared “I am the science,” scorning anyone who disagreed with him. Early on Fauci had told “60 Minutes” that “there’s no reason to be walking around with a mask,” claiming that masks don’t provide much protection.

Unabashed, Fauci continued to know it all, but in fact he and other bureaucrats made poor and unscientific decisions, like shutting down our schools, bending to the political heft of the teachers’ unions as opposed to indications that children were safe from the virus.

The bottom line was that millions of people became suspicious of the vaccine and refused to take the shot, endangering themselves and those around them. As a result, the U.S. had a worse outcome than any other developed country.

It is not just Pfizer’s ad that reminds us of this consequential failure. Consider the campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is perhaps best known for his “anti-vax” past — which he now disavows. RFK Jr. won’t be our next president, partly because running as an Independent is almost impossible in our country and many Americans think he’s not credible. But a recent Harvard-Harris poll of a three-way contest shows Trump beating Biden 41 percent to 33 percent, and Kennedy taking a remarkable 18 percent of the vote. Sure, he has a famous name and many Democrats are looking for an alternative to Joe Biden, but still.

More important, because of the backlash against the unpopular mandates of the Biden administration, uptake on the most recent vaccines aiming to prevent serious infection from new COVID variants has been poor. Only around 14 percent of adults have gotten an updated vaccine through last November.

Much more concerning is evidence that parents in increasing numbers are shying away from the traditional vaccines administered to all kids, with exemptions to mandates on the rise and diseases like measles becoming more common.

Will Pfizer’s Super Bowl ad increase Americans’ trust in our pharmaceutical companies and our medical establishment? It’s a start, but more honesty and transparency would be a better approach. Ditto from the Biden White House.

Liz Peek is a former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim & Company. Follow her on Twitter @lizpeek.

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