“Reminder” Ads: Innuendo Minus Information

When direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads were first unleashed on the American public in 1996, the pharmaceutical and advertising industries went into a frenzy of marketing brainstorming. Their goal was to create ads that sold products in convincing, visually compelling ways that also complied with a key requirement: disclosing the products’ side effects.

When Pfizer launched Viagra (sildenafil citrate) for erectile dysfunction (E.D.), it faced multiple challenges, including destigmatizing the condition, peddling the drug and its efficacy and providing information on the product’s adverse effects, which included a growing list of serious conditions. At the same time, it had to do this in a way that was tasteful and targeted the drug’s diverse audiences.

The ads have therefore had a checkered history since the days when former senator and presidential candidate Robert Dole was Viagra’s spokesperson. A TV ad that showed a devilish-looking man ogling a lingerie shop was taken off the air when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) criticized it for its misleading, indirect message as well as what it omitted. The ad implied that Viagra, effective for impotence, would also provide a return to a previous level of sexual desire and activity, which has not been proven. In addition, while it conveyed the message that Viagra was intended for sex, it omitted the drug’s indication (E.D.) and said nothing about its side effects.

Last February, the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation sued Pfizer, alleging that its advertisement encouraged the use of Viagra as a recreational or “party drug” rather than a serious medication and that it was increasing the risk of users getting infected with the HIV virus. In the words of the Foundation’s president, the ads are “not about a medical condition... but about performance anxiety.” Nevertheless, the lawsuit was dismissed.

At present, facing increasing competition and dwindling sales, Viagra has launched a “reminder” ad that skirts FDA requirements. Because any ad that mentions the product’s name and the condition that it treats must also disclose its adverse effects, Pfizer has eclipsed its message with a song and an image. The song is “Viva Viagra” (to the tune of “Viva Las Vegas”) and the image is that of a jam session of guitar-playing 40-something-year-old men singing about their “not straying” and their devotion to an unseen “she.” The health information spoken at the end omits a caution against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV, although this is flashed briefly on the screen. The result is an undermining of the pharmaceutical manufacturers’ original rationale for DTC advertising: that it would be a tool to provide important information to patients who would benefit from the knowledge.