Direct-to-consumer prescription-drug television advertisements often contain superimposed text (supers) to convey information about the advertised product. This randomized experiment examined three size levels of supers and two levels of background contrast in direct-to-consumer advertisements. Participants (N = 1,272) watched different versions of a television advertisement for a fictitious asthma drug on either a flat-screen television or a tablet computer. Larger supers were more noticeable and memorable than smaller supers. High-contrast supers were less noticeable. Tablet users had more favorable views of the advertisement. Results have implications for the communication of important medical information in direct-to-consumer advertisements.
