Viagra Turns 10, BetterSex.com - Better Sex, Better Lovers, You Can Be Better
Happy 10th Birthday, Viagra®
Is there an Erectile Dysfunction (ED) drug backlash as people realize love needs more than a pill?

Better Sex Viagra Article and Viagra Turns 10 EDIt is hard to think of another ten year old that has affected our lives as much as Pfizer’s little blue pill. The first section of this article muses on ways we’ve changed, how the little blue pill altered our collective Zietgeist. The second part of this article discusses the idea of an ED drug backlash. The Wall Street Journal in its March 27th article about Viagra’s tenth anniversary proclaimed that the drug as bedroom miracle but as “no romantic cure-all.” There is a growing realization that our lives and relationships are more complicated than remedies any single pill can provide.

The Sinclair Institute and our web sites BetterSex.com and SinclairInstitute.com have had a front row seat for the Viagra Revolution. Think about the impressive sweep of that revolution:

  • The AARP study Sexuality at Midlife and beyond shows that in 2004 more than twice as many men tried drugs to address sexual performance issues as in the 1999 study.
  • Pfizer™ estimates over 3,000,000 men tried Viagra in the United States in the first six months after its 1998 introduction.
  • Viagra spokesmen include Senator Bob Doyle, Texas Rangers slugger Rafael Palmeiro and NASCAR driver Mark Martin.
  • Nicole Kidman's nude scene in the play "The Blue Room" was described as 'pure theatrical Viagra' by Charles Spencer in London's Daily Telegraph proving that Viagra is larger than its brand, putting it in the same group as brand eponyms such as Xerox, Coke and Hoover.
  • We couldn't find market research to support this, but bet that 9 out of 10 Americans could identify Viagra from a picture 20of a few blue pills.
  • Erectile Dysfunction or ED, previously a very private conversation between patient and doctor, is now a cultural stereotype and common water cooler fodder.

Clearly Pfizer makers of Viagra, Bayer makers of Levitra and Eli Lily makers of Cialis have tapped into something larger than themselves. “People have been looking for a millennia for agents that are going to help guys with sex, whether it’s rhinoceros horn or eye of newt,” explained Abraham Morgentaler, a Harvard urologist who wrote a book called The Viagra Myth.

Catching a wave as big as the ED wave means there is more going on than can be easily or immediately understood. Baby boomers know all about hype. This is the generation that screamed when seeing The Beatles, gyrated Hula Hoops, played in the mud at Woodstock and made the creator of Pet Rocks a millionaire. Hype got help from:

  • Medicalization of everything from restless legs syndrome to sex.
  • New regulations allow more aggressive and pervasive drug advertising.
  • Rock and Roll baby boomers redefine what it means to be ‘older’ and ‘retired’ demanding stay young, stay healthy, stay hard remedies.
  • Post war Americans arrive at a point in life where meaning is more important than answers, intimacy more valuable than conquest and time for love becomes available.

Combine these factors and you have a pool of cultural gasoline waiting for a drug company match. There was such a highly combustible mix any spark could create a hot blaze. If the “Got Milk” marketing team had moved on ED first we might all be drinking a quart of milk a day. Efficacy aside, there was an opportunity to connect and tie up the cultural Zeitgeist in unique and interesting ways.

ED Drugs Efficacy
One reason we are not drinking quarts of milk is that ED drugs work. That is to say ED drugs increase blood circulation. Increase blood circulation and, you guessed it, erections are harder, last longer and get men back in the sexual game. We do not subscribe to the theory that erections are required to have great sex. That idea is way too limiting, but we understand that, for many men, no erection means no sex.

We men are not our erections. An erection, or more precisely the ability to have an erection, is so tied up with concepts of self worth, perceived ability to pleasure a partner and our meaningful place in the world that pulling apart the psychology of an erection could take years of therapy, a life changing spiritual event or both.

Drugs, no matter how seemingly benign, have side effects. Many ED drug takers may already be taking a cocktail of hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol lowering drugs. The primordial force of our sex drive is evidenced by
our willingness to dam the risks and ingest yet another drug to get back in the sexual game.

At The Sinclair Institute we understand the strength of sexual desire. We’ve find it ironic that men are willing to take risks inherent in taking a new drug in order to have the same lousy sex they were having before. ED drugs increase the circulation of blood. They do not increase lovemaking skills. No ED drug will solve a single relationship issue, in fact ED drugs may cause new issues. Imagine a long sexless marriage where the man, thanks to a drug, is now physically ready for sex. What are the psychological ramifications for both partners of this new vigor?

People are smart. Despite millions of ad dollars spent to convince us that pills are all we need, we know better. This is not to say that we aren’t seduced by the “silver bullet” idea. We know, from experience, that silver bullets rarely do all we think or for as long as we want. We are in the second phase of the ED Drug Revolution. Now, in this phase, actual experience informs us what ED drugs will and won’t do. Here are a few examples of this second phase:

  • Sales have not reached original drug company projections.
  • Viagra lost share to new competitors signaling overall market growth has slowed as competitors seek to rob from each other instead of depend on organic market growth or.
  • Anecdotal evidence gathered from our customers and people responding to the March 27th Wall Street Journal article Viagra Turns 10: Bedroom Miracle But No Romantic Cure-All show how actual experience is creating a backlash of appropriate expectations:
    • Many men develop ED due to other medical problems and haven’t had sex in a long time. Even more have no idea how to pleasure a woman.
      Health Blog post on 3.27
    • Viagra was a great drug and changed my life when it came out, as I suffered all my life with anxiety problems that interfered with sex. I love it - it’s like being 18 again, and good sex is very important to us to keep= 0 our intimacy fresh. So easy to drift apart when you stop having sex.
      Health Blog Post on 3.27
    • The drug, and the two others (Levitra and Cialis) do what it’s advertised to do: get blood into the penis to produce a rock-hard erection. Let’s be clear: Sex is important to men. It is part of how we define our identities. This is true for young men, old men, men who have had a heart attack, men who are blind and men who have diabetes and any other chronic ailments.
      Health Blog Post on 3.27

What does it all mean?
ED drugs are a positive development, but only part of a better sex™ solution. As the Wall Street Journal said, they are no romantic cure-all. Great lovers are made not born and not created by a pill. A growing number of men and women want more than any well-advertised pill supplies. Some may believe bad sex is better than no sex; The Sinclair Institute believes you can create the best sex of your life right now. A pill may be part of your better sex equation, but it is unlikely to be the only thing you need.

One path millions of people follow is watching a Sinclair Institute adult sex education DVD such as the Better Sex Video Series. We know an ED pill plus one of our videos is better than the pill by itself. The more ED drugs people take the more they realize the need for something more, something more meaningful and lasting.

If you have comments on this article, on your experience with an ED drug or you’ve found a path to great sex, please share it in an email msmith@bettersex.com and we will post it here.

 


Trademarks
Viagra is a registered trademark of Pfizer, Incorporated.
Cialis is a registered trademark of Bayer. Incorporated.
Levitra is a registered trademark of Eli Lily, Incorporated.
Great Lovers Are Made Not Born is a registered trademark of The Sinclair Institute.
The Better Sex Video Series is a registered trademark of the Sinclair Institute.
March 27th Wall Street Journal article Viagra Turns 10: Bedroom Miracle, But No Romantic Cure-All.