Markets

Pfizer's Foreign Viagra Ads: Mailman Jokes; Space Sperm and the Fountain of Youth

By Jim Edwards

Updated on: June 29, 2009 / 11:14 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

Pfizer has been criticized before -- once by the FDA -- for advertising Viagra in a way that was too light-hearted for a drug intended to treat a medical condition. But that has not stopped the company commissioning a slew of entertaining ads in foreign countries.

The ads shown here (click to enlarge) were done by ad agency Ogilvy & Mather for the South African market. They all suggest that the aging pool boy, milkman and mailman are performing services beyond their job descriptions. Wink, wink ... you get it. (Why do they all feature white guys, BTW? South Africa is a majority black country.)

They are both subtle and humorous; and they avoid the embarrassment of being too explicit by using a dash of charm.

But wit is not a replacement for policy. They don't appear to say anything about risks or side effects. This blog has noted before that Pfizer seems intent to push the envelope in its Viagra marketing. This is a prescription drug for a condition that can be linked to diabetes, blood pressure problems or a heart disease -- and yet ads portray it as more fun than beer.

It could be worse. Check out this massively unsubtle ad for the Chinese market by agency Dentsu Beijing. Giant sperms crashing into a dead asteroid? Really?

Mexico's Z Mexico agency at least portrayed the drug being used in a responsible, mature relationship -- but couldn't help suggesting that it turns senior citizens back into 20-year-old stud muffins. (It works on their spouses, too, the ad suggests).