<\/p>\n
Did you hear the one about the guy who spent all his money on Viagra?<\/p>\n
Now he\u2019s hard up.<\/p>\n
In parts one and two, we learned how Viagra found its way from the laboratory to our hearts\u2026 well, not literally our hearts.\u00a0 It finds its way into the patient\u2019s bloodstream and affects enzymes regulating blood flow to the penis, if you want to get technical. But it has become such a popular drug, and while its effectiveness is dead serious to those who had the need, it is the subject of countless punch lines and pranks. That\u2019s the stuff of marketers\u2019 dreams, though: to have your product become a part of the popular culture because it works.<\/p>\n
Who can forget former presidential candidate Bob Dole\u2019s 1999 ads hawking Viagra? Or 2007\u2019s bizarre \u201cViva Viagra\u201d commercial, which featured young-ish males singing to each other about the wonders of their erectile dysfunction medication? Search \u201cViagra jokes\u201d and you\u2019ll come up with enough material to keep the urologist\u2019s waiting room in stitches for hours.<\/p>\n
But it hasn\u2019t been all fun and games for Viagra. Once the bully on the sales block, its 92% share of the ED market dropped below 50%, due in great part to the introduction of competitors Cialis and Levitra, not to mention the glut of \u201cherbal Viagra\u201d supplements and other \u201cmale enhancement\u201d products. Such dubious claims are not backed up by the rigorous testing that FDA-approved drugs have gone, but that doesn\u2019t stop anyone from trying to make a buck while diluting Viagra\u2019s brand cachet.<\/p>\n
The misconception that Viagra increases libido (It does not. In fact, it does little for those not suffering ED.)or somehow boosts sports performance (\u201cBlood doping–\u201d another thing that Viagra absolutely does not do) has led to its popularity as a recreational drug, adding further public confusion, which is again not good for the brand.<\/p>\n
The little blue pill faces its biggest challenge in the year 2020. That\u2019s when Pfizer\u2019s patent for Viagra expires. After that, generic manufacturers may manufacture Sildenafil Citrate-based drugs for treating erectile dysfunction. What does that mean for Viagra? Pfizer could license the original recipe and market it\u2019s own \u201cNew Viagra\u201d (let\u2019s just hope that should they go there that they do better than Coca Cola did), or it could try to make the pill available over the counter.\u00a0 Or Pfizer could just hope that the millions of users stay loyal\u2014probably not a good idea when most of your customer base thinks with the trouser brain before the other one.<\/p>\n
Sildenafil Citrate is a plucky little compound, though, and it will take more than snake oil salesmen and sports cheats to bring it down. It has been approved by the FDA for treating pulmonary hypertension (sold as Revatio) and is being used to treat high-altitude pulmonary edema (altitude sickness). If you ever decide to climb Everest, be sure to bring your Viagra.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unlikely that Viagra<\/a> is going away any time in the foreseeable future. It works, it\u2019s safe, it has multiple uses, and the name is a part of our popular culture. Pants up–and pants down–to the little blue pill.<\/p>\n If you found this interesting, check out these related works of art… Part I – Where the Heart Is Part II – Going With the Flow Part III – Our Friend Viagra Did you hear the one about the guy who spent all his money on Viagra? Now he\u2019s hard up. In parts one and two, we learned how Viagra found its way from the laboratory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-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
\nThe History of the Erection<\/a>
\nThe Six Weirdest Viagra Spam Emails<\/a>
\nTop Five Banned Viagra Commercials<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"