DTC Ads

I'm always amazed by the amount of DTC advertisements made by pharmaceutical companies on television, and I am even more caught off guard when it is for medications that treat erectile disfunction such as Viagra. It really says something about the things we allow to be broadcast with regard to censorship. The male anatomy is a very taboo topic on television compared to our comfort level with the female body, so I'm always a little surprised that nobody flinches when a commercial comes on TV warning men to seek medical attention if he experiences an erection lasting more than four hours. ED medication is the first thing that comes to mind when talking about DTC ads because I think they are the most prolific, and it is interesting to observe their success. As we discussed in class, the DTC ads usually include a checkbox of symptoms, and by the end of the commercial, the men watching are convinced they are impotent. Granted, I'm sure this drug does wonders for people whose sex lives are on the way out due to ED, but it becomes dangerous when men are using it illegally for recreational purposes.

Using a drug for anything other than its intended purpose is always risky, but the nitrates in Viagra can cause an extremely unsafe drop in blood pressure that can be fatal to someone with a healthy blood pressure. The main cause of impotence in men is high blood pressure, which prevents the blood from flowing to the right places, so the drug aims to lower blood pressure temporarily, so when someone with normal blood pressure uses Viagra, the blood pressure can plummet. The advertisements should focus more on this aspect of the drug that they know exists, but instead they focus of marketing with the idea that the consumer can do it "whenever the time is right".