NY Times Examines Former Cheerleaders Working as Drug Company Sales Representatives, USA

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Article Date: 30 Nov 2005 - 15:00 PDT

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The New York Times on Monday examined how cheerleading in college has become "a springboard for many careers in pharmaceutical sales." Cheerleaders -- known for "their athleticism, postage-stamp skirts and persuasive enthusiasm" -- have "many qualities the drug industry looks for in its sales force," the Times reports. T. Lynn Williamson, an advisor for cheerleaders at the University of Kentucky, said pharmaceutical companies looking for recruits "don't ask what the major is. Exaggerated motions, exaggerated smiles, exaggerated enthusiasm - they learn those things, and they can get people to do what they want." The Times reports that while the number of former cheerleaders who have become drug representatives is unknown, "demand for them led to the formation of an employment firm," Memphis-based Spirited Sales Leaders. Thomas Carli of the University of Michigan said sex appeal appears to be a deliberate strategy of pharmaceutical companies. According to the Times, "[s]tories abound about doctors who mistook a sales pitch as an invitation to more." However, Lamberto Andreotti, president of worldwide pharmaceuticals for Bristol-Myers Squibb, said, "Obviously, people hired for the work have to be extroverts, a good conversationalist, a pleasant person to talk to; but that has nothing to do with looks, it's the personality" (Saul, New York Times, 11/28).

New York Times

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