Migraine Martyrs

Juan Camilo Velásquez on the contemporary migraineur in pharmaceutical ads.

For people like me, light augurs pain. Whenever I see a shimmery glow coiling itself into a zigzag shape, I run to the medicine cabinet because I know an indomitable throbbing is about to erupt in my head. It may sound dramatic, but Julius Caesar, Virginia Woolf, and Liz Taylor would understand. They are people like me, migraineurs. To be sure, they never identified as such, and neither do I, but basing one’s personality around one’s pain has never been more on-trend. With the help of pharmaceutical marketing, one can trace the contours of the migrainous identity and finally answer the question on everyone’s mind: what does Friedrich Nietzsche have in common with Khloé Kardashian?

“I know what it’s like to perform through pain,” says Lady Gaga in a commercial for Pfizer’s Nurtec® ODT, a medication to prevent and cure migraines. Gaga’s voiceover invites us to imagine the disappointment of her fans and the millions in losses if she canceled a show as we watch her gesticulate in front of an adoring crowd. The commercial shows a painfully high-stakes life as it appeals to our sympathies. The ad first aired in June 2023, but before a second, anonymous, voice actress could even finish frantically listing Nurtec’s contraindications, the internet was already in an uproar. Legions of Little Monsters and big haters accused the artist of greed, deceit, and–even worse–cringe for peddling a drug recently recalled across the country. But perhaps we shouldn't be shocked that Gaga made money out of pain.

PERFECTIONISTS

ICYMI