Viagra Hires Bob Dole for Ads
By PHIL GALEWITZ AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Hoping to improve sales of its Viagra drug, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - news) has hired former presidential contender Bob Dole for a television advertising campaign to raise awareness about impotence.
The former Senate majority leader will participate in a series of public service activities, including speaking engagements and educational advertising that focus on impotence and men's health in general.
Pfizer would not disclose how much it is paying Dole, who will not mention Viagra by name in the messages that will start early next year.
The Dole ads mark Pfizer's first use of television advertising associated with Viagra. The company is weighing whether to use any ads that directly mention the product.
Last May, Dole, 75, acknowledged he participated in the trials for Viagra, which he has called a ''a great drug.''
''That's certainly got our attention,'' said Pfizer spokeswoman Marianne Caprino.
''I'm convinced this campaign can help men pay attention to health problems they might otherwise be afraid to discuss,'' Dole said in a statement.
Television advertising has fueled record sales of a number of prescription drugs this year, most notably the allergy drug Claritin made by Schering Plough Corp. Schering pays former TV host Joan Lunden to pitch the product.
Viagra was the most successful introduction of a new prescription drug in history, but its sales have not kept up the early pace. The drug is expected to have sales of $800 million for the year, far below the $1 billion estimates analysts initially predicted. Since its introduction in April, more than 6 million Viagra prescriptions have been written.
Pfizer had planned on launching direct to consumer ads on television for months. But that strategy was derailed last month when the federal government required to the company to add several new warnings to its label, provisions that also would have to be mentioned in any broadcast ads.
Those new warnings include telling patients to be careful with the drug if they have a history of heart disease, blood pressure problems or certain eye disorders.
Pfizer is not the first drug maker to launch a campaign about impotence. Vivus Inc. (Nasdaq:VVUS - news), of Menlo Park Calif. and maker of Muse, hired actor Gavin MacLeod of ''Love Boat'' fame last year.
Between 10 and 20 million men in the United States have impotence, but only about 10 percent of them receive treatment.
Dole has appeared on talk shows and before Congress to promote early detection and treatment for prostate cancer and its common side effect, impotence. Dole was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991 and underwent surgery that doctors said rid him of the disease.
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