If a GYNO wrote a Viagra ad

Pfizer, the makers of Viagra, debuted a new ad to target women. The idea is to get women to encourage their partners with erectile dysfunction to bring the subject up with their doctors, thus generating more Viagra prescriptions.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) can be an emotionally challenging problem for both men and their partners and it’s true getting men to bring the subject up with their doctors can be difficult. However, Pfizer is missing a key point in their ad (the sex-kitten-Stepfordesque spokeswoman aside), the fact that many women were not having satisfying sex with their partner before he developed ED so a longer, harder erection isn’t going to fix that problem. If getting their man to speak with his doctor is just going to lead to longer bad sex, well, what’s the point?

One of the saddest things I hear in my practice is when I ask about foreplay and in reply I get, “What’s that?” Many patients tell me their partners are incredulous that they actually need to do any genital touching during foreplay or penetration because “their previous partners” orgasmed with penetration alone. The distasteful aspect of bringing up a previous partner’s “easy” orgasm aside (assuming there wasn’t any faking involved as vocalizations are not a predictor of orgasm), studies tell us that penile penetration is the least reliable way to achieve orgasm.

If harder, longer penile penetration is all that’s missing from the amazing-sex-like-we-used-to-have-equation then the Viagra ads will be effective. For some couples getting good sex back might just take a pill, however, if sex fell way short of mind-blowing before then going back to the same thing except with a longer erection is less than ideal.

Now if Pfizer added in an educational component for better sex then I suspect they’d get far more women on board with the get-your-guy-to-talk-to-his-doctor idea. Some suggestions include a gift certificate to Betty Dodson and Carlin Ross’s website with the 1st Viagra prescription (they have great educational videos of how women actually orgasm), package labeling with helpful hints such as, “Suck on the clitoris like you would a Tic Tac,” or “Foreplay starts when you walk in the door,” or “Don’t be intimidated by a vibrator, think of it as a universal remote,” and a complementary vibrator with the first 3 month’s supply of medication.