Entertainment Web site producer eUniverse has debuted CelebrityHealthWatch.com. The site and an e-mail newsletter feature diseases and ailments along with information on celebrities who have dealt with them.
The venture will offer eUniverse's marketing clients the opportunity to build “ailment-based direct marketing programs,” according to a statement.
The effort is designed to capitalize on pharmaceutical companies' increased direct-to-consumer efforts recently as a result of revised Food and Drug Administration regulations, the statement said.
The site's home page includes 20 check-off boxes for users to sign up for health-related information by e-mail. The home page also featured an article offering safety advice from X Game gold medalist skateboarder Bob Burnquist, and an adjoining advertisement for record continuity club Columbia House's online arm ColumbiaHouse.com.
EUniverse executives were not immediately reachable for comment.
Among the other features on CelebrityHealthWatch will be one detailing Larry King's battle with heart disease and another on Kathleen Turner's experiences with rheumatoid arthritis, according to the company. Other topics will include diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, smoking, Alzheimer's and high cholesterol.
EUniverse, whose properties include Flowgo.com, MadBlast.com and CupidJunction.com, struck a deal with Spotlight Health to create content for the site and newsletter. Spotlight Health, Los Angeles, specializes in creating celebrity health features.
Under the deal, eUniverse, Los Angeles, will promote CelebrityHealthWatch in its IntelligentX and Infobeat entertainment newsletters, which the company claims reach 7.5 million people daily.
This is the second announcement of a health-related initiative eUniverse has made in the past month.
The company said it acquired Fitness Heaven (FitnessHeaven.com) in mid-December and that it plans to debut a Fitness Heaven paid subscription program sometime in January.
The program will include an online dieting service and a virtual trainer, which will tailor diets — including a daily meal plan and shopping list — and exercise according to user preferences.
The service will also include a 10,000 page medical encyclopedia.
EUniverse will promote it to subscribers across its entire network, which the company claims numbers 40 million.
