{"id":14080,"date":"2016-02-03T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T16:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.accessrx.com\/blog\/?p=14080"},"modified":"2018-12-18T19:03:45","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T19:03:45","slug":"the-evolution-of-viagras-image-m0108","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/erectile-dysfunction\/viagra\/the-evolution-of-viagras-image-m0108\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evolution of Viagra’s Image"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sildenafil citrate may not carry a lot of associations, but the brand name for this compound, Viagra, certainly does. Here’s how Viagra’s brand image has changed over the years.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Developed in the early 1990s by Pfizer pharmaceutical chemists in the UK, sildenafil citrate was developed to treat high blood pressure and symptoms of angina. It may not have been great for its original intended purpose, but an unexpected side effect of more satisfying erections turned Viagra into a household name synonymous with treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED).<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Viagra\u2019s image has evolved in the 15-plus years since its 1998 introduction.<\/p>\n

1998 \u2013 An Instant Hit<\/h3>\n

In June 1998, just three months after its introduction, Newsweek<\/i> magazine called Viagra the \u201chottest new drug in history almost everywhere in the world<\/a>,\u201d an unequivocal statement if ever there was one. Pfizer started out with a low key approach to advertising the product, enlisting former US Senator Bob Dole for early television commercials. It was later in 1998 that Senator Dole was hired for the drug\u2019s television campaign, which was really aimed at increasing awareness of and initiating discussion of the topic of ED, something many men were understandably reluctant to bring up with their healthcare practitioners.<\/p>\n

2001 – No Competition<\/h3>\n

Viagra didn\u2019t really need much in the way of advertising, because no competitors in the same drug class arrived until 2003. After only three years on the market, Viagra achieved \u201cblockbuster\u201d drug status, with sales of over $1 billion per year. By 2001, the drug was synonymous with ED treatment. Even after the introduction of competitors Levitra and Cialis in 2003, Viagra held onto 92% of the market<\/a> for prescribed ED drugs.<\/p>\n

2007 Complaints About Vegas-Themed Ads<\/h3>\n

But all wasn\u2019t perfect in the ED treatment universe. In the early 2000s, reports of side effects including cardiac events and a condition called cyanopsia (where everything appears to have a blue tint) started getting media coverage. Not that the reports did much to curb enthusiasm for Viagra. Complaints also started appearing concerning the \u201cmessage\u201d that easy availability of drugs like Viagra were sending.<\/p>\n

In 2007, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation focused attention on an advertising campaign that appeared during the NBC Nightly News broadcasts. The campaign, titled \u201cViva Viagra!\u201d featured middle-aged men singing \u201cViva Viagra\u201d to the tune of Elvis Presley\u2019s \u201cViva Las Vegas.\u201d This was also during the height of Las Vegas\u2019s ad campaign with the tagline \u201cWhat happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,\u201d and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation felt that the Viagra ads promoted reckless use of the drug<\/a> as a party aid and a gateway to casual, unsafe sex.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Viagra’s “Las Vegas” ads drew criticism that the brand indirectly promoted unsafe sex.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

2009 \u2013 Pfizer Tones It Down, But Not Too Much<\/h3>\n

In 2009, Pfizer put out a Viagra ad with a completely different ethos. Its \u201cCouple\u201d ad<\/a> features an adorable older couple arriving home from a night out over a background of a sweet romantic ballad titled \u201cWhat I Feel\u201d by Catatonia. As the couple makes their way up the stairs, a series of flashbacks occurs showing the couple when they were younger.<\/p>\n

The year 2009 also marked the 11th<\/sup> anniversary of the introduction of Viagra, and Pfizer went forward with a sales campaign with a sense of humor about ED. The company had Canadian ad agency Taxi create Viagra-themed party blowers<\/a> to be given to the company\u2019s sales teams to celebrate over a decade of treating ED.<\/p>\n

2010 \u2013 Pfizer Addresses the Elephant in the Room<\/h3>\n

In 2010, Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas made headlines in AARP<\/i> magazine by admitting that he used ED medications and praised the drugs that \u201ccan make us all feel younger<\/a>.\u201d But although Viagra had been on the market over a decade, and Levitra and Cialis for seven years, there was still the issue of bringing up the subject with healthcare practitioners \u2013 the proverbial \u201celephant in the room\u201d that men were reluctant to acknowledge. An Australian television ad<\/a> that year featured an actual elephant in a room with a man speaking with his doctor, and encouraged men to speak up, because healthcare workers aren\u2019t fazed by talk of ED, and patients shouldn\u2019t be either.<\/p>\n

2013 – Giving Up Isn\u2019t Who You Are<\/h3>\n

A recent ad campaign played upon the strengths of the middle-aged man, a man who has the knowledge and experience to \u201cmake things happen.\u201d The video<\/a> features a ruggedly handsome man setting up a campfire on a beach and discovering his lighter doesn\u2019t work. The voiceover declares, \u201cYou\u2019ve reached the age where giving up isn\u2019t who you are,\u201d as the man retrieves a piece of flint and a metal knife handle, starting a fire while his partner makes the tent all cozy. Overlaid onto a track of John Lee Hooker\u2019s bluesy \u201cDimples,\u201d it makes middle age seem anything but sexually boring.<\/p>\n

Giving up isn\u2019t who Pfizer is, either. By continuing to fight counterfeit drugs, selling the drug directly to consumers online, and maintaining a good chunk of the ED medication market despite increased competition from competitors, the company is determined that the general public will continue to associate the name Viagra with success in the bedroom<\/p>\n

eDrugstore.com<\/a>, with US-licensed pharmacists, sells Viagra at competitive prices and ships swiftly and discreetly, giving consumers the ultimate in convenience, privacy, and online security. eDrugstore.com<\/a> also sells generic sildenafil, as well as Cialis (and generic tadalafil), Levitra, Stendra, and Staxyn. Visit eDrugstore.com<\/a> to start your order today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sildenafil citrate may not carry a lot of associations, but the brand name for this compound, Viagra, certainly does. Here’s how Viagra’s brand image has changed over the years.   Developed in the early 1990s by Pfizer pharmaceutical chemists in the UK, sildenafil citrate was developed to treat high blood pressure and symptoms of angina. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[22,23,184],"class_list":["post-14080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viagra","tag-ed","tag-erectile-dysfunction-2","tag-viagra"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t