Quote from: GoingNuts on September 08, 2013, 09:31:14 PM
Steve Carrell has a child with FA's.

yes, a dairy allergy??  But did you happen to watch and see the resemblance between Steve Carrell and Max's dad from the first story?  I'm sure it is coincidental, just something I noticed and wondered if they were related also.

Steve Carrell has a child with FA's.

nonuteen - I agree with what you said. 

there were no commercials in it - it was a commercial, but I think it had a lot of good information. It covered a lot of ground.

Just finished watching - here's my review:

Yes, it looked like a FARE infomercial.  The Mylan influence was more subtle, since they never specifically mentioned "EPipen", but rather epi auto-injector.

Yes, for the most part they were preaching to the choir, and no, I did not learn anything I didn't already know.

But...

My DH who 1) Generally has no interest in anything health-related and leaves all the allergy stuff to me and 2) is extremely cynical wrt to paid media influences, etc., couldn't tear himself away.  He wasn't even reading email, or multitasking in any way during our viewing, and had lots of questions that he was asking me.

So, in summary...

If it reaches:
    -  One person who needed a reality check about the potential severity of theirs, or their children's allergies,
    -  One person who now realizes that they should carry Epi,
    -  One person who will be more careful about what they send their own non-FA kiddo to school with

Then I'll take it.  Infomercial or not.

I just finished watching. The awareness component was big which I liked. Presented many voices of LTFA: child on ECMO treated by ER physician with a PTA son, mom who blogs about LTFA for her two sons, child in a OIT Phase I study, and some regular teenage kids with LTFA all gave a voice to living with food allergies. Not one voice for 52-min going about a single reaction--but a montage of stories about living the day to day with LTFA.

I think it would be a great tool for someone who needs a slight adjustment to perspective. The neighbor or grandparent who doesn't quite get it. The 50+ min length is going to make it *tough* to be required viewing.

I really liked the "he's a normal kid who has food allergies. We don't let it define him." Or the mom whose son made national championships in crew--she decided she wasn't going to let food allergies stop him from what he wanted to do. Sort of one of those things DH and I have said.

The awareness component is big. A strong voice for inclusion.

Edited to add "tough" to be required viewing.

One thought rolling around my peabrain is that FARE's most recent hire is an actual, literal lobbyist (finally). The agenda on FARE's part may be using this as a fundraising/lobbying tool.

Also, it is narrated by Steve Carrell and Max"s dad looks very similar to him.  I was wondering if it might be his brother and Max is his nephew.  Just a thought...

I think they did a great job.  I think any amount of awareness we can get out there is a good thing.  I felt so alone 16 years ago when my daughter had her first reaction. 

I felt like the documentary did a great job explaining the seriousness of food allergies and  captured what it feels like to be a food allergic parent and or child. Not only did it stress the seriousness but also gave a sense of hope that while it is difficult and has it challenges, kids affected can still lead normal lives especially if they have support and empathy from the community.  We have to rely so much on teachers, nurses, coaches to help keep our children safe when they are out of our care...
It did stress that the only treatment right now is pretty much avoidance and epinephrine which unfortunately seems to be true.  It also discussed the hope for finding a cure.  16 years ago, our allergist told us she thought we would have one in 10 years, here we are 16 years later and not much has changed....

I'm all for more awareness any way we can get it and hope this is viewed by many.  I will recommend it to friends and family and educators.

Quote from: CMdeux on September 08, 2013, 10:43:08 AM
Well, that's pretty stupid public outreach, then, given that those people actually PAYING attention to it probably already purchase EpiPens in quantity.

Maybe some of us very responsive parents who actually fill their epinephrine prescriptions will see the video and think "aw, geez, look at what Mylan's doing for us. Maybe I should consider getting an Epi-Pen instead of Auvi-Q."



I agree that it's stupid...but what else are you going to do if you're Mylan? People are all jumping ship for Auvi-Q. Mylan can't/won't redesign their product, so they have to pick around the edges to keep whatever market share they can.

I'm sure that's why I'm getting "your prescription has expired" letters all of a sudden from them as well. When there's huge market share on the line, the investment dollars are suddenly freed up for these types of activities.

Three words make me laugh every single time I see them: "Mylan Blogger Summit." 

Gotcha.

Well, that's pretty stupid public outreach, then, given that those people actually PAYING attention to it probably already purchase EpiPens in quantity.

LOL.

Maybe it's like a book report, though... and they actually learned something in producing it, meaning that they won't have any more of those appalling advertisements about eating birthday cake because of having an epipen...

Quote from: CMdeux on September 08, 2013, 09:44:08 AM
Yeah, but does "us" there mean us-us?  Or "food allergic persons and their parents"?

That's not necessarily the same group.

Us-us.

There are parents who have kids with allergies who obsess (which I mean in the best of ways of course), and those who don't. I don't see this getting an audience outside of parents who are already on social media sites. Preaching to the choir.

I know, I know, I'm always glass-half-empty girl. But until a video addresses the root causes of the polarization around food allergies, all the cute kids in the world will not make a difference to change the minds of the people who make our lives hell.

Yeah, but does "us" there mean us-us?  Or "food allergic persons and their parents"?

That's not necessarily the same group.

Full disclosure, though-- I haven't watched it.  Might have time later, might not.

I guess I'm just cynical.

This was paid for by Mylan. It was in that time slot because the time was most likely BOUGHT, just like ad space.

It wasn't targeted to people without food allergies. It was targeted to us. And they used the word "death" probably a hundred times. (Dare you - go back and count.)

I don't see how this will help our cause at all. But it might help sell Epi-Pens.

Here is a link to the Discovery Channel Web Page, you can watch the program there on the net:

http://www.discoverychannelcme.com/patient-education/food-allergies

I thought it was well done.

oh no....I watched the first 20 min with dS (9 PA) and it was rough....he was mostly annoyed b/c he wanted to play xbox.    We'll watch later as a family - or I might watch it through first when they go to bball.