Ad campaign calls
on Pfizer to stop "irresponsbile" promotion
of Viagra

A new ad campaign asking pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to end its promotion of Viagra as a sexual-enhancement drug will launch in New York on Wednesday and Los Angeles next week. The print campaign by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which will appear in The Village Voice and gay newspapers The New York Blade and Los Angeles's Frontiers, also warns gay men of the danger of using Viagra with crystal meth. "We call on Pfizer to exercise responsibility by discontinuing marketing to men with mild erectile dysfunction and by initiating an educational campaign on the dangers of Viagra and meth, targeting men who have sex with men," the ad copy reads. Headlined "Viagra/Meth Alert!" the ad also features an image of a doctor's prescription with the text "Viagra + Crystal Meth = Rx for HIV infection." "Pfizer's direct-to-consumer marketing of Viagra as a drug to enhance sexual performance, aimed at men who don't necessarily suffer from erectile dysfunction, is irresponsible, especially in light of the drug's known use as part of a 'circuit party cocktail' that is fueling the spread of STDs and HIV," Michael Weinstein, president of the L.A.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said in a statement. "By marketing Viagra to men with 'mild' erectile dysfunction, for men with 'all degrees of ED, even if it only happens once in a while,' or as a way to 'improve your sex life'...Pfizer is selling the drug as a way to enhance sexual experience, not as a treatment for an illness. We urge Pfizer to not only end this dangerous marketing tactic but also to fund a national educational campaign on the dangers of Viagra and crystal meth, in order to mitigate the negative impact its advertising continues to have." Numerous research studies have shown a link between the use of Viagra, both by itself and with crystal meth, and an increased risk of HIV and STD infection. In the past Pfizer was forced by the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw ads that suggested Viagra could restore a man's youthful vigor and become a "wild thing." (The Advocate)