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Before, during, and after David Letterman and Jay Leno found nightly monologue material in a seemingly endless parade of Viagra jokes, the popular press found that Viagra (and Pfizer) had many dimensions. Pfizer became a Wall Street darling: never before had the addition of a single drug to a pharmaceutidl company’s product line resulted in such a significant increase in a stock’s value. Viagra added another layer of complexity to ongoing health insuranceldisputes: if Viagra use was covered by an insurance company, then why wasn’t birth control also covered? Moreover, debates waged over what should constitute a monthly supply of Viagra. Viagra was also a source for fashionable human relationship stories. And Viagra raised important questions about gender and sexuality. Viagra is drama. As late-night television tapped into and enlivened the general giddiness of water cooler humor across the country, the popular press didn’t seem to be able to write stories fast enough to satisfy the public’s interest in the topic. Thousands of stories were written in! the popular press about Viagra between September 1996 and the product’s! eventual debut in late March 1998. In this post I examine fiftytwo news stories appearing in the New York Times) u.s. News & World Report) and Newsweek.’ The media coverage ofViagra can be roughly divided into foLr phases.

First, the prerelease Viagra articles (September 1996-March 1998) outline the nature of erectile dysfunction with existing or proposed solutiolns driving the drama. Second, articles reporting on Viagra’s availability I appeared (March 1998-June 1998). These focus on the success of the clinical trials and the scientific clamor that accompanied the release. The third phase of articles emerged in the months following the unprecedented success of Viagra (June 1998-February 1999). These news stories focus I on three things: (1) the personal relationship aspects ofViagra; (2) the insu4ance controversies surrounding Viagra; and (3) the risks of Vi agra. The final stage of Viagra news takes us from a year after Viagra’s debut to the rdcent past (February 1999-0ctober 2002). These articles tend to focus on tije cultural implications of Viagra, particularly the scientific management of II’ male and female sexuality and its concomitant political economy.

Several components are emblematic of nearly every Viagra article. First, there are portraits of American males. These portraits reveal agd, occupations, values, and disappointments and successes. Second, there in personal (or lay) testimony-both by users and would-be users ofViagra-Jnd expert testimony by a variety of sexual- health professionals, including uro1ogists, primary care physicians, obstetricians and gynecologists, sex therapistsl and government officials. And third, there are statistics-statistics attesting to the preponderance of erectile dysfunction, the success rate ofViagra, add the cost ofViagra to insurance companies, and statistics establishing normative levels of a range of bodily systems.

Frequently in these news articles, Viagra is introduced through Ithe use of emphatic epithets. Eighteen months before its debut, Viagra was characterized as “the ultimate erection aid” in a Newsweek article by Geoffrey Cowley titled “Attention, Aging Men.”? Other cognomina for Pfizer’s capillary chemistry followed in quick succession. The New YOrk TimescalledlViagra “a wonder of the modern age,”3 “the new miracle drug,”4 and I”the new national drug of choice.”5 Newsweek followed with “the potency wonder drug,”> while U.S. News & World Report countered with “the sexual potency drug.”? Dorothy Nelkin, author of Selling Science) points out how descriptions like these both exaggerate the promise of new drugs and oversimplify the intricacies of chemistry to the bodyf Implied by the prevalence of these monikers is the idea that this technology is something we’ve all been waiting for.