Radio Diatribe

Ty Pennington is seen here shilling for Adderall XR, an amphetamine-based ADHD treatment from the British pharmaceutical giant Shire PLC.

Here, Ty Pennington is pushing Aspirin from Bayer Consumer Care, a unit of Bayer AG.

It appears Ty Pennington, the carpenter who has gained a C-list celebrity status recently through appearances on home improvement-themed reality shows and the male prostitute-inspired attires he dons regularly, has been quite busy recently hawking pharmaceuticals. This is quite understandable really since 1) fronting the interests of pharmaceutical giants is the most time-effective way to cash in on his quickly evaporating semi-celebrity status, and 2) people who watch his show are probably dumb enough to buy medications just because the television tells them to.

Nonetheless, I find it rather morbid that T.P. is pushing Adderall XR, a drug that can cause adverse heart events, including sudden death, while also promoting Aspirin as a “wonder drug” for heart disease risk reduction.