Viagra ads try to inform without embarrassing

Pharmaceutical advertising has to hit a select target. That's why drugmakers spend carefully aimed big budgets trying to reach the right consumer with their message and product.

Friends at work wonder what's different about their colleagues who are taking Viagra.

The advertising might show up alongside more mass consumer goods on prime-time TV. But selling a Coke is far different from selling, say, a little blue pill for impotence.

"Our job is to communicate to men so they don't feel so embarrassed," says Janice Lipsky, U.S. team leader, Viagra.

"Viagra advertising is very targeted to men's habits." (Related story: Expect an ad-stravaganza as Viagra gets competition)

For that reason, perhaps, other consumers who see the ads might be turned off. Results for the current ads for Viagra in Ad Track, USA TODAY's weekly consumer poll, show just how much consumers unaffected by a condition can tune out the ads.

"For medication it's a higher-involvement marketing message," Lipsky says. "People are passionate about their condition, and education can help men overcome a barrier for treatment."