Sex, anyone ?

Ever since Bob Dole extolled the virtues of Viagra some ten years ago after his losing campaign against Bill Clinton, the TV screens in the US have been filled with ads urging everyone to join the pleasure caravan with blue colored pills. The main foci of these ad campaigns from the four or five different manufacturers has been on length- length of time to get there, length of time to stay there and well, just length!

Typically these TV ads begin with soft romantic music. In one ad a couple strolls into the frame holding hands and looking soulfully at each other—note that the age of the couple seems to increase as the evening wears on. Both say how the little blue pill has saved their marriage. A second ad has a more blunt message where a guy attempts to throw a football through a tire. The football keeps bouncing out, and the poor guy's face is a portrait of futility. When he takes pill, however, he rams the football through the hole—straight and true, again and again, with a great big smile. A third ad talks about the ability to be ready when you want to be and that over a 36 hour period while a fourth ad simply shows a line of wide eyed women lining up next to a hugely beaming man who has just taken the pill. But in all cases the spell is soon broken. First the music becomes louder, the screen darkens and the fonts become smaller- much smaller- as a voice in the background says quickly don’t take this pill if you have high blood pressure, or hypertension or a litany of other complaints. Then the music becomes even louder, and the voice, even softer, telling the viewer of the possible side effects of the pill. It seems that the side effects could range from headaches, facial flushing to an upset stomach. There could be a sudden loss of hearing with ringing in the ears or even a sudden loss of vision. Great, you can be ready at any time but you may not be able to see anything or hear anything! And the final indignity, the ads warn you, “if the erection may lasts more than four hours, go immediately to the hospital”.

The fact is that all these side effects were artfully concealed from the buying public till the FDA insisted that not only must the bottles be labeled but also the ads touting the product on TV. So the soulful ads needed to add the harsh reality of specific side effects such as nausea, abdominal pain, back pain, photosensitivity, abnormal vision, eye pain, facial oedema, hypotension, palpitation, tachycardia, arthralgia, myalgia, rash, itch, and priapism. One had to wonder if the cure was worse than the disease!


However Viagra does have other uses, for example, a low-concentration solution in water significantly prolongs the time before cut flowers wilt; one experiment showed a doubling in time from one week to two weeks. It helps in the prevention and treatment of altitude sickness such as that suffered by mountain climbers. And, if it helps, Viagra can aid jet lag recovery in hamsters. Of course you wonder since when have hamsters become frequent fliers! So it is a versatile pill, maybe.

One would imagine that the possible side effects would put off most people but the ad industry in the US is a burgeoning font of money -the US spent a total of $ 136 billion in 2008. The standard half-hour of television contains 22 minutes of program and 8 minutes of commercials - 6 minutes for national advertising and 2 minutes for local. Highly-watched programs can command rates in the millions of dollars. For example, a 30-second spot during the 2008 Superbowl sold for $2.9 million. One third of the ads on TV are for automobiles while about 10 % are for pharmaceutical products.

Despite the popularity of some advertisements, many consider them to be an annoyance for a number of reasons. The main reason may be that the sound volume of advertisements tends to be higher (and in some cases much higher) than that of regular programming. The increasing number of advertisements, as well as overplaying of the same advertisement, are secondary annoyance factors. A third might be the increasing ability to advertise on television, prompting ad campaigns by everyone from cell-phone companies and fast food restaurants to local businesses and small businesses. And of course some ads are just plain offensive and manipulative.

There are different ways that the TV ad industry seeks to influence the viewers to buy their products. One expert explains that there are twelve different types of ads--the first format is the "demo” which is a visual demonstration of a product's capabilities. The second seeks to "show the need or problem” by first, making it clear that something's not up to snuff in the consumer's life and then introducing the remedy—which is, of course, the product they are selling. Sometime the ad will employ a "symbol, analogy, or exaggerated graphic" to represent the problem. Others will use a "comparison" to show that their product is superior to those of the competitors. Another follows the "exemplary story" where the ads weave a narrative that helps illustrate the product's benefits. A popular approach is use the "benefit causes story" where the ad relies on imagining a trail of events that might be caused by the product's benefit. The simplest formula is using famous people to directly tout the product or the advertiser may showcase the type of people it hopes you'll associate with the product. Often these will be hip, funny, or good-looking people. But sometimes the associated users are goofy or geeky—it depends on the target market. Some ads will use the "unique personality property" which highlights something indigenous to the product that will make it stand out while others may parody the product. What all these approaches have in common is their ability to play on the viewers concerns persuading them to buy products they do not need or whose absence they had not hitherto felt like these famous pills that now dominate the airwaves.

An elderly friend was examining a number of these bottles that promised immediate ecstasy with great care. When I asked him why it was taking him so long to make up his mind, he replied that “I am trying to decide what I want to risk today – blindness or deafness.”

It puts one in mind of Jack Benny when was confronted on his show with a gun-toting individual who said:
"Your money or your life."
Benny hesitated. So the hold-up artist repeated:
"Your money or your life."
After more hesitation, Benny said impatiently:
"I'm thinking. I'm thinking."