E(rectile) D(ysfunction) TV

By Michael Stephens, PopMatters. Posted August 16, 2004.

Since the FDA's approval of Cialis and Levitra in 2003, television has become clogged with ads for ED (erectile dysfunction) drugs. In opposition to the "We are the Champions" Viagra ad that uses the Queen song to celebrate that triumphant feeling of getting free Viagra with every seventh prescription refill, the Cialis ad asks men the worrying question, "If a relaxing moment turns into the right moment, will you be ready?" Levitra's launch campaign included a partnership with the NFL and tried to entice men away from Viagra with a sex-as-sport pitch. This approach failed miserably, illustrating the difficulties of selling new ED drugs in the wake of Viagra's overwhelming market lead. Although Cialis and Levitra have been on the market for almost a year, Viagra still retains 75 percent of the $2 billion ED drug market, Cialis has managed to capture 14 percent and Levitra 11 percent.

After it received FDA approval in March 1998, Viagra had five straight years of being the only clinically tested ED medication available and immediately cornered the world market. Having no other similar products from which to differentiate itself, apart from a few herbal remedies of the "Horny Goat Weed" variety, Viagra didn't need to create an image for itself. Viagra's original advertising consisted of endorsements from spokesmen like Bob Dole; older respected men who basically said, "It's here. It works." Enthusiastic reviews from Hugh Hefner and other aging playboy types didn't hurt, either. Soon, Viagra was being used by all sorts of people, many of whom didn't even suffer from ED. Several years later, Viagra is so sure of its universal recognition and consumer brand-loyalty that it can joke about the high price of Viagra, while surreptitiously gloating over its market supremacy in the "We are the Champions" ad.

Viagra's advertising campaigns were never the key to its success, however. Because of its unique clinical function, Viagra became an immediate cultural point for all issues relating to virility, male sexuality, and aging, and through this continual popular referencing, much more than the effects of its $100 million advertising budget, Viagra has achieved a level of brand recognition that is reserved only for superstar drugs like Tylenol and Prozac. Five years later, Viagra continues to be a constant source of office jokes and comments for late night talk show hosts. More than simply spreading the word on what Viagra is, the enormous street and media buzz that Viagra has inspired over the last five years has established Viagra's image overwhelmingly in terms of power and efficacy as the remedy for impotence.

A popular Viagra email tells the story of an office team-building exercise in which the staff is encouraged to brainstorm 10 Viagra slogans. This type of joke is typical, in that it limits the discussion of Viagra to purely positive expressions. The slogans are: 10. Viagra – It's Whazzzzup! 9. Viagra, the quicker member upper. 8. Viagra, Like a rock! 7. Viagra, When it absolutely, positively has to be there tonight. 6. Viagra, Be all that you can be. 5. Viagra, Reach out and touch someone. 4. Viagra, Strong enough for a woman, but made for a man. 3. Viagra, Tastes great! More filling! 2. Viagra, We bring good things to life. 1. This is your penis. This is your penis on drugs. Of the hundreds of Viagra jokes on the Internet (Several crates of Viagra were stolen today. Police are looking for a hardened criminal), none raise questions about Viagra's effectiveness or even refer to impotence except in the most oblique terms. The key to Viagra's importance in popular culture is partly that it allows a topic that is excruciatingly embarrassing for many men to be broached in a positive and even celebratory way. In Viagra jokes, failure to achieve an erection is mentioned, but only in terms of its opposite: success and rock-hard tumescence.

Viagra's reputation makes marketing Johnny-Come-Lately competitors like Cialis and Levitra an unusually tough challenge. As Robert Krell, president of pharmaceutical advertising company Krell Advertising says, "It's a monumental task for a new drug to take the lead away from the first drug to market". This is especially true in the case of Viagra. Since Viagra is already a potent and unfailing remedy for impotence in the popular imagination, alternative drugs are fighting an uphill battle against their own apparent redundancy. Why reinvent the wheel? A significant dimension of the marketing challenge that faces the makers of Cialis and Levitra is that they must re-establish the problem of impotence – a problem that many consumers see as already having been solved by Viagra – in order to offer their products as a cure. Impotence, however, is such an unpopular topic, that it is almost impossible for advertisers to refer to it without alienating the very consumer base they are trying to reach.

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from Media and Technology! Sign up now »