The practice of advertising drugs directly to consumers on TV and in popular magazines is of no benefit to society, only drug companies. The average person cannot go to a store and purchase the drug and they do not have enough medical knowledge to make it worthwhile to advertise to them.
When they see enough vague, but cute, ads about a drug to think it might be something that will magically cure them, they will inevitably go to their doctor and pester him/her until they are prescribed a drug that may or may not be of any benefit to them. Only a physician and medical personnel should be the targets of pharmaceutical advertising, because they will be able to correctly determine whether a drug is right for a particular individual or not.