Earned & PaidPfizer
Pfizer spent $2.70B on advertising and marketing in fiscal 2025, down 18.2% on the year before and +17% since 2019. That's 4.3% of revenue, less than in 2019: the business outgrew its marketing.
Marketing spend by year
Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue.
Say vs do
We found no statement about the size of Pfizer's marketing budget on its earnings calls or in its 10-Ks, so here is its record against its peers.
What they said
No statement about the size of its marketing budget.
What they did
| Year | Marketing spend | Change | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $2.70B | -18.2% | 4.3% |
| FY2024 | $3.30B | -10.8% | 5.2% |
| FY2023 | $3.70B | +32.1% | 7.3% |
| FY2022 | $2.80B | +40.0% | 3.0% |
| FY2021 | $2.00B | +11.1% | 2.7% |
| FY2020 | $1.80B | -21.7% | 4.3% |
Against its peers. Compared with the 3 other Pharma advertisers we track (AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly): since 2019 its marketing spend went +17% (peer median +91%); its share of revenue moved -1.3 pts (median -0.5); last year -18.2% (median +107.1%).
In interviews, its leaders made 32 statements about marketing: 3 argued for investing in brand and 0 for cutting.
How we check: a statement gets a verdict only when it's clearly about the size of the whole company's marketing budget over a full fiscal year; we compare it with the advertising and marketing expense in that year's 10-K. Statements about one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix between brand and performance can't be checked against annual filings.
What they say about media
The marketing channels it talks about using for itself on earnings calls and in its 10-Ks and 10-Qs, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- AI in marketing “They consolidated our external agencies down to one powerhouse global advertising company and leverage the power of AI to transform our marketing and selling engine.” Albert Bourla on the earnings call · Feb 5, 2026 · source
- Creative campaigns “We also introduced a new direct-to-consumer campaign in November, which has increased patient awareness of CIBINQO and led to more patients asking their doctors about it.” Albert Bourla on the earnings call · Jan 31, 2023 · source