UK horrified by all the U.S. drug ads during Meghan Markle interview

People around the world tuned in to watch Oprah Winfrey's intimate interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on Sunday night. While they tuned in to learn more about the royal family, they also left with a number of terrifying pharmaceutical ads burned into their brains.

For many, CBS Presents Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A Primetime Special, provided some much needed clarity around why the couple left the royal family. Markle also opened up about the impacts of media scrutiny on her life, her struggles with suicidal thoughts, and several distressing conversations the royal family had about her son's skin color.

There was a lot to take in, but people in the UK had to process added layers of confusion and concern thanks to the American pharmaceutical ads that aired during the interview breaks because in the UK, pharma companies "can’t advertise prescription-only medicines to the general public."

On Monday morning, as Twitter users were still digesting the powerful interview, a thread of "British people reacting to American pharmaceutical ads" during the special went viral.

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If you've watched American cable TV for more than 10 minutes you're likely familiar with these ads. They're almost exclusively about medications you can hardly pronounce, and often feature a voiceover of someone reading all the terrifying side effects and dangers of a medication while delightful stock image-quality lifestyle shots play in the background.

Watching one of the ads — like truly paying attention to the voiceover, imagery, and whole presentation — can give you emotional whiplash. But because America has perfected the art of making the peppy, terrifying commercials and shows them so frequently, they rarely alarm U.S. TV watchers anymore.

For UK viewers who don't usually see pharma ads on TV, however, the dramatic commercials were baffling. Some people even took the time to tweet their thoughts on the commercials mid-Meghan and Harry interview. Here a few standout tweets from the thread.

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To our UK friends, we get it! Our ads are weird and scary and it's a topic that is clearly controversial. Our healthcare system is clearly broken.