By Dan Seitz
Recently, Bloomberg went out and collected data on two drugs, Viagra and Cialis (sorry, Levitra). The chart, overall, shows what people have been insisting, Viagra’s popularity is declining as Cialis’ rises. But it also tells us what times of year people are getting busy…and fascinatingly, the chart varies very little from year to year, with dips and spikes matched almost perfectly for each season and time of year. Tracking sales of these drugs actually tells us a lot about when Americans get it on.
You’d think the longer lasting Cialis would have a substantially different profile: after all, the French call it the weekender. But it doesn’t. We’re not sure what to chalk that up to: men waiting until the last minute, or surprisingly vigorous Cialis use. Either way, Cialis’ sales spikes and dips follow Viagra’s very closely; the only difference is that one’s rising while the other is drooping.
Not terribly surprising, the days leading up to Valentine’s Day are boom times for Viagra and Cialis, with prescriptions spiking sharply. But the other spikes are just as interesting.
Apparently, during the year, right around New Year’s, the week after Spring Break, the week before summer vacation, the end of summer vacation, Labor Day, and right around Halloween also mark times when everybody’s getting a little private time. In fact, Viagra seems closely tied to minor holidays, and right after the kids go away or right before they come back…maybe not so surprising, since you need privacy as much as you need Viagra to get it on.
Equally not surprising, whenever the in-laws or the kids are back, prescriptions take a nose-dive. The big one-two punch is Thanksgiving and Christmas, two sharp drops that are very, very close together. We guess with Grandma Mildred in the bedroom down the hall and little kids running around everywhere, the last thing anybody is thinking about is intimate time alone.
Around the time of final exams, when kids are in the house, prescriptions drop, usually right after a spike. Spring and summer, two seasons generally associated with lustfulness, are actually fairly calm, with prescriptions staying steady. Fall and winter tend to get a rise out of prescriptions: maybe the key motivation is to keep warm.
It’s worth remembering that these prescriptions are measured in the thousands; at any given time, there’s at least 40,000 Cialis prescriptions and 70,000 Viagra prescriptions on the market. Still, it’s something to consider…especially if your prescription is running low and Valentine’s is coming up.
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