Hispanic Direct-to-Consumer campaign for VYTORIN.

Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals announced the beginning of a new direct-to-consumer marketing campaign for VYTORIN. The campaign is designed to reach adult Hispanics, who among persons with high cholesterol, are 36 percent less likely than non-Hispanic whites to have properly controlled cholesterol, increasing their risk for heart disease.

“This campaign is an important step toward directly educating the nation’s nearly 45 million Hispanics about high cholesterol,” said Deepak Khanna, vice president, general manager, Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals. “It is our hope that this initiative will help more Hispanic patients to initiate a dialogue with their physicians about the two sources of cholesterol, food and family health history, and how to manage high cholesterol levels.”

The campaign kicks-off with two different 60-second television spots that will run nationally, as well as full-page print advertisements. Both television spots mirror the well-known, English-language advertisement for VYTORIN but were adapted for a Hispanic audience to include more culturally identifiable images and food choices. An educational, grassroots public relations effort in partnership with Hispanic community organizations will complement the campaign to raise awareness about where cholesterol comes from, food and family health history. Additionally, on-line Spanish-language resources, www.vytorin.com/español and phone services staffed with Spanish-speaking representatives, are available to provide more information.