Chronically challenged by advertising rules that forbid describing what they actually do, Pfizer’s Viagra and Eli Lilly’s Cialis use humour to sidestep the issue in their new national television advertising.
Viagra and its agency of record, Taxi, launched four TV ads last week. The 15-second spots show couples sitting quietly in a variety of settings. One partner, seemingly having a revelation, says the other’s name. What happens next is obscured by a retro “Viagra Intermission” slide and raunchy organ music from the 1966 Antonioni film Blowup.
Taxi has won multiple awards for its previous Viagra work, including gold at the Bessies, Best in Show at the Marketing Awards, and gold at Cannes.
“For this campaign we’re showing relationships that are quite varied,” says Steve Mykolyn, Taxi’s chief creative officer, referring to the four couples who are of differing ages and ethnicities. “It’s about improving relationships with Viagra.”
Mykolyn contrasts that message to Taxi’s previous Viagra campaign, “Gibberish,” which relied on nonsensical dialogue that replaced descriptions of the product’s benefits. “Gibberish was about the ubiquity of Viagra in the culture. It’s well accepted among people of different ages. Women were talking about it as well as men. It’s well known.” A web component for the campaign is expected in coming weeks.
Grey Canada created the ad at its Toronto office.
“Our intent was to develop an effective Canadian campaign that encourages men to initiate dialogue about Cialis with their doctors in a manner that respects applicable Canadian regulations governing pharmaceutical advertising,” says Michel Quintas, Lilly’s direct to consumer channel manager, in a statement.
