Roses Are Red, Viagra is Blue
AIDS Healthcare Foundation Anticipates a Pfizer Valentine's Day
Ad Promoting Viagra as a Recreational Drug. Will World's Largest
Drug Maker Continue Shameless Holiday Marketing Campaign?
Following Reckless New Year's Eve and Super Bowl Viagra Ads, US'
Largest AIDS Group Urges FDA to Pull Pfizer's Campaign and
Overhaul Its Regulation of All Direct-to-Consumer Drug
Advertising For the past several months, Pfizer has been running
a direct-to-consumer holiday-themed print ad campaign that AHF
believes promotes unsafe sex by encouraging the recreational use
of Viagra on holidays such as New Year's Eve and the Super Bowl.
AHF fully expects that Pfizer will not overlook Valentine's Day
as another prime opportunity to play on men's vanity and fears
in order to increase its profit margin and push its erectile
dysfunction product at the expense of public health with another
irresponsible Viagra ad.
Previous ads in Pfizer's Viagra campaign included the New Year
and Super Bowl print ads. Some of those full-page, color print
ads ran in such papers as The Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street
Journal, the Los Angeles Daily News (and likely appeared in
other markets throughout the nation). The ads depict a handsome,
over-forty male grinning knowingly at the camera with the
taglines:
* "Be this Sunday's MVP" (Super Bowl Viagra ad)
* "What are you doing New Year's Eve?" (New Year's Eve Viagra ad)
The Super Bowl advertisement also included the following
carefully worded reminder: "ED is an issue with half of all men
over 40." The use of the word "issue" seemed designed to
capitalize on men's fears, while giving Pfizer wide latitude to
imply that as many as half of all men over 40 are afflicted with
the medical condition Erectile Dysfunction, and could benefit
from its product. AHF is concerned that the ads encourage
recreational use of the drug, which in turn contributes to the
spread of HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases
according to http://www.zenegra.org.
"This shameless campaign for Viagra is soft on science and heavy
on hype," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare
Foundation. "While Pfizer may be following the letter of the law
in its ads with disclaimers and FDA-mandated product information
and warnings at the bottom of its ads, we believe it fails to
honor any spirit of the law or sense of truth in advertising,
and we are asking the FDA to immediately crack down on this
irresponsible direct to consumer ad campaign. By using such
non-scientific and open-ended language as saying 'ED is an
issue' in its ad, Pfizer all but states that half of all men
over 40 need Viagra or another such drug. Pfizer is deliberately
capitalizing on Viagra's reputation: it feels that these men
need only to be reached out to and treated on national holidays
that are known for partying, binge-drinking, over-indulgence and
excess such as New Year's Eve, the Super Bowl-and we expect,
Valentine's Day." samples at http://www.pillsamples.com
By advertising a drug that is designed to treat a diagnosed
medical condition as a way to enhance a holiday celebration,
Pfizer sends a reckless message to consumers. In mid-January,
AHF sent a letter to the FDA calling for a fast-track a review
of Pfizer's irresponsible Viagra advertising campaign. In its
January 10th, 2006 letter to Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D.,
Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
AHF requested that the FDA reevaluate the entire Viagra
advertising campaign and consider asking for its full
withdrawal, for the good of the public's health. A similar
letter was sent to Pfizer CEO, Dr. Hank McKinnell. In addition,
the Foundation will closely monitor for similar Viagra ads
around upcoming holidays, including St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de
Mayo and the Fourth of July.
The FDA previously made Pfizer pull ads from the controversial
"Wild Thing" Viagra campaign that featured a male model sporting
devil's horns and a tail, and seemed to suggest that users of
the drug could recapture the vigor of their youth.