In other words, they compared two sets of ZIP codes that are very similar in terms of demographics and socioeconomic factors except for the level of ED drug ads. In further robustness checks, the researchers replaced ED drug advertising with advertising for an unrelated drug category and found no impact on birth rates. Their results showed that a 1% increase in ED drug advertising contributed to an increase of 0.04% to 0.08% of total births. For example, the launch of TV shows in Brazil about female working professionals was linked to a substantial decrease in the nation’s birth rates,” Kim said. Since then, TV advertising for pharmaceuticals increased substantially, with more than 80 drug ads estimated to be aired every hour on U.S. television.