Ok, I have lived long enough to have some idea how the world works. I do not pretend to understand how the world works, mind you, I just have some idea how it works.
I knew that it was not by happenstance that drug reps tended to be attractive women (and men). But it never came to my mind that the drug companies would be actively recruiting cheerleaders to sell drugs. Read this story from the New York Times.
I love this quote: “T. Lynn Williamson, [a] cheering adviser at Kentucky, says he regularly gets calls from recruiters looking for talent, mainly from pharmaceutical companies. … ‘They don’t ask what the major is,’ Mr. Williamson said. Proven cheerleading skills suffice. ‘Exaggerated motions, exaggerated smiles, exaggerated enthusiasm – they learn those things, and they can get people to do what they want.'”
Exaggerated motions, exaggerated smiles, exaggerated enthusiam, exaggerated statements about the safety of drugs ….