Viagra's Hothouse

Pfizer's ad agency faced a more creative challenge: how to tout the drug without provoking giggles or squirms? Their goal isn't to convince impotent men of Viagra's merits--it's getting the nine out of 10 impotent men who won't discuss their problem with a doctor to do so, since doctors will prescribe Viagra to most impotence patients once they're in the door. Complicating their job: all those jokes. ""Essentially people like [Leno and Letterman] set the tone for the brand, and not exactly the right tone,'' says Carol DiSanto, senior VP at Cline, David & Mann, Pfizer's agency. Its sober ads seek to reposition the drug. One planned TV spot features an older married couple dancing closely while a narrator talks about the joy of renewing an intimate relationship. Soon came a personal sell: last week Pfizer announced Bob Dole will appear in TV ads promoting impotence treatments beginning this winter.

When Viagra hit the market, Wall Street got hot and bothered just as fast as patients. That meant long days for Pfizer's investor-relations team. The day before FDA approval, Pfizer stock stood at $95; a month later it hit $122. For years Pfizer had been trying to get its stock, a darling among institutional investors, into the portfolios of more mom-and-pop investors. The reason: retail investors are more loyal than the fickle pros, who will dump a stock at the slightest bad news. The buzz around Viagra did the trick; since its launch, Pfizer's shareholder base has doubled to 825,000 investors, meaning more proxies to mail and phone calls to answer. ""We had to do a lot of handholding ... to keep the analysts calm, keep them from getting too wild,'' says senior VP Lou Clemente. As prescriptions soared, so did some sales estimates, from optimistic to rosy to absurd. One figured Viagra could be a $10 billion drug. Since sales have slowed to a more normal rate, most analysts bet Viagra will sell between $1 billion and $2 billion next year.

Down in the media-relations department, where walls are covered with framed headlines (VIAGRA BOOSTS BORDELLO BUSINESS), the toughest work came late last spring. That's when the first reports trickled in that men were dying while on Viagra. Among the 130 confirmed deaths: Mike Howorth, 65, of Visalia, Calif., who passed out while making love to his wife, Gerri, on May 29 and died two days later. ""I can't say that Viagra killed my husband, but I do say that Viagra contributed to it,'' she says. ""If I can make one man think twice before taking that pill, it's worth [speaking out].'' The deaths didn't rattle Pfizer's team; they're a part of the drug biz, and studies suggested that because so many impotent men suffer from cardiac problems, even more deaths might have occurred as unhealthy hearts are strained by the rigors of sex. Although Pfizerites feel they've been pummeled by negative press lately, competitors argue they've gotten off easy. ""I just don't think the Viagra death issue has gotten the kind of scrutiny is merits,'' says Dr. Neil Gesundheit of Vivus, which sells a rival anti-impotence drug called Muse and who disputes Pfizer's safety claims. Despite the uproar, doctors say most patients are still willing to try Viagra. ""I think about [the risk], but the tradeoff is worth it,'' says a 64-year-old Maryland user.

As the hype surrounding Viagra begins to deflate, employees hope Pfizer's myriad other drugs--Lipitor for cholesterol, Zoloft for depression, Norvasc for hypertension, along with a pipeline that includes treatments for everything from migraines and fungal infections to diabetes and incontinence--get their turn in the limelight. But even if they don't, Pfizer may profit. Doctors confirm Pfizer's claim that patients who come in complaining of impotence are often diagnosed with serious illnesses that cause it, like heart disease, high blood pressure or prostate problems. That warms the heart of Pfizer VP Marie-Caroline Sainpy, whose cardiac-drug team sells treatments for those ailments. Their sales are rising thanks to Viagra. Sales rep Jesus (Augie) Gayoso, a 43-year Pfizer veteran, sees the benefits, too. Before Viagra, he couldn't get in the door to see certain physicians; now he's welcome everywhere.

Back at headquarters, Brinkley and his team occasionally get misty-eyed while watching videos from couples who claim their marriages were saved by the drug. Chairman Steere says no fewer than 20 of his colleagues running Fortune 500 companies are enthusiastic users. As Viagra-mania fades, employees talk excitedly about the upcoming launch of Celebrex, a new class of arthritis drug called a ""Cox-2 inhibitor'' that goes on sale this winter; some analysts say it will be bigger than Viagra. It won't win the acclaim of ""the love drug,'' but that may be a good thing. After a year spent helping so many Americans have sex, Team Viagra may finally get to go home and have some itself.