I have recently taken to a taste in walking music that would be unfamiliar to most in my aging cohort. My streaming service channel delivers such artists as TAELA, Hailee Steinfeld, Tate McRae, jax, Ava Max, Chloe Adams, Leah Kate, Ana Clendening, Mimi Webb, Madison Beer, Chelsea Collins, Halsey, Ke$ha, and similar. Most of my readers will recognize perhaps only one or two (if any) of those names.
It is a genre designed and destined for a younger crowd. Let's "be real"; when you get to be my age, essentially everyone is a younger crowd. It struck me recently that this music "channel" has evolved in regard to its advertising. We all know that advertising is targeted. They do not push Sugar Corn Pops during news shows, and they do not push blood pressure monitor brands in rom-com movies.
For a long time, the advertising I heard on that channel was for a particular toilet tissue, a soft drink, a tempting fast food outlet, and the occasional cosmetic product. Those never struck me as out of the ordinary or unexpected. However, I was surprised recently when repetitive pharmacy advertisements began to occur between the ballads of the youthful and soulful artists above.
The drug names are not important, but the context is interesting to me.
One advertised drug is supposed to treat a malady that was new to me: ATTR-CM. Sometimes acronyms are for saving space. Other times, we use them because no one could pronounce the actual thing: "Transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis." Apologies to my medical compatriots; we know you can pronounce it, but the rest of us, not so much. The ads encourage me to "ask my doctor."
My unfamiliarity with ATTR-CM made me wonder, how prevalent is this disease that is popping up every few songs in my feed? A bit of research revealed that this is sometimes hereditary (hATTR) and sometimes idiopathic (wtATTR). Either sounds ominous.
I found the condition described in Epidemiology of transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis: a systematic literature review, Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, January 16, 2025. The title "rare diseases" was perhaps an initial clue? How common is this "rare disease?" It turns out that is hard to estimate, and depends on geography. That said, the study authors conclude that
"ATTR prevalence ranged from 6.1/million in the US to 232/million in Portugal"
Spoiler alert, I am not listening to my dance, contemporary pop, or indie pop while streaming in Portugal. I am right here in Paradise (where it is currently the year 1972, but it is nonetheless the U.S.).
That was intriguing to me: 6.1 people in a million may be affected by this disease/condition. That is 0.00061%. To reach a volume of 1 million people in the Florida Panhandle, you would need Escambia (334,516), Santa Rosa (211,737), Okaloosa (221,342), Walton (92,944), Washington (27,461), Holmes (20,090), Jackson (51,229), Calhoun (13,059), Gulf (15,995), and Liberty Counties (8,139), and you would still be a few short (total is only 996,512).
Geographically, driving east across Florida on I-10 from Alabama, you would be just shy of Gadsden and Leon Counties (Tallahassee), or about 180 miles into Florida (leaving out only Bay County, Panama City) to compile such a population. In that expanse, there would seemingly be 6.1 people who need to ask their doctor about the "rare disease" Transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis.
To get over 10 people (12.2), you would need to include the following territory:
And, according to some, the average age of onset for this disease is >60 years"; though the onset of the "hereditary" disease "can be 30+ years old." About 38% of the U.S. population is under 30 years old; 77% is under 60. Therefore, even in the two million people between Alabama and I-75 (see above), the statistics suggest a very small cohort in the affected age groups, and a minuscule potential for this malady. The rarity in general makes one question why the advertising.
But the narrow listening band presents only greater scarcity. Not to put too fine a point on it, I am likely the only person over 50 in the world listening to this particular music channel. The "over 30" listener population for these artists is also unlikely to be all that large. Of the 6-10 people in the Florida panhandle that may have ATTR-CM, I am doubtful any are listening to this music or hearing this ad.
Somehow, it is in the advertiser's interest to pepper the music service channel catering primarily to the 16-25-year-old, TikTok-thematic audience of the artists to which I listen with advertisements for medication for an admittedly "rare disease" that affects the target audience of hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Is it random? Is it me?
From a broad perspective, there seems incongruity. I am convinced I must be missing something. Or, perhaps, I am channeling Rosanne Rosannadanna.
