Q&A: New Yaz ads mandated by the FDA

New Yaz ads mandated by FDA

What's the story behind those odd Yaz commercials I've been seeing on TV?

Attorneys general from 27 states, spearheaded by Florida, complained about an advertising campaign for the birth-control pill Yaz that they said downplayed health risks and implied the pill helped cure acne and premenstrual syndrome.

The Food and Drug Administration investigated and agreed that the ads were deceptive.

So the maker, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, agreed in a settlement to spend at least $20 million on a campaign through July 26 to "correct" previous ads. And it will submit ads for the next six years to the FDA for screening before airing.

The punishment is considered unusual. "They rarely require these corrective campaigns," Judy Norsigian, the executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves, a health education and women's advocacy group in Cambridge, Mass., told the New York Times. But she said the popularity of the Yaz brand and the misleading ads justified the response. "These ads should never have been out there," Norsigian told the Times.

Sales of Yaz went from $262 million in 2007 to $616 million in 2008, when the TV ads in question ran.

305,940,420 and counting

What is the U.S. population?

We checked the U.S. Census Bureau's Population Clock (www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html) at 3 p.m. March 4 and came away with this number: 305,940,420. While there, we also learned that taking births, deaths and international migration into account, that's a net gain of one person every 13 seconds.

Just call him 'Bossman Junior'

What does B.J. stand for in B.J. Upton's name?

The Tampa Bay Rays centerfielder's real name is Melvin Emanuel. He acquired his nickname from his father of the same name, who was widely known as "Bossman."

So Melvin Emanuel Jr. soon became "Bossman Junior," which was then shortened to B.J.

B.J.'s dad, "Bossman Senior," played football and baseball at Norfolk State and is a part-time scout for the Royals and a college basketball referee. His mother, Yvonne, played softball and teaches physical education in Chesapeake, Va.

From 'Frasier' to Broadway

Whatever became of the man who played Frasier's brother?

David Hyde Pierce, who played the fussy and funny Niles Crane opposite Kelsey Grammer's Frasier, has been busy on Broadway in recent years. He won a Tony award for his performance in Curtains and was in Spamalot. Lately he has been helping prepare a revival of the comedy Accent on Youth, due to open in April, a few days after Pierce's 50th birthday.