BOTHELL – New television ads touting Cialis have hit the airwaves, featuring younger-looking couples than earlier commercials and new variations on the slogan initially chosen for the erectile dysfunction drug.
Coming at the same time as new ads for rival Viagra, they show the competition for new patients is not waning.
“We’ve been evolving our ads all along, and our ads are going to keep evolving,” said Leonard Blum, senior vice president for sales and marketing for Bothell-based ICOS Corp.
ICOS and Eli Lilly and Co. joined the advertising war by premiering their first full-length commercial for Cialis during the Super Bowl in February.
Those ads featured a couple sitting side-by-side in twin bathtubs and broke new ground by talking about exactly what the drug does.
Produced by New York-based Grey Worldwide, the latest Cialis commercials have debuted on network and cable TV stations over the past two weeks.
Instead of the older middle-age couple relaxing in twin bathtubs, the new ads feature a younger middle-age couple cuddling in a swimming pool and relaxing together in scenes filmed in Barcelona, Spain.
They feature the slogans “You can be ready” and “Are you ready?” Those are slight variations from the original slogan, “Will you be ready?”
Despite the younger-looking people in the commercial, ICOS and Lilly aren’t trying to attract men who don’t really need to use the drug, Blum said.
“We’re not targeting the performance-enhancer segment. We’ve said all along this is a serious medication for a serious condition,” he said. “We want to be pretty clear on that.”
He pointed out the couples, though younger-looking than couples in earlier Cialis ads, still are clearly above 40 years old.
Makers of erectile drugs are sensitive to charges about the age of their targeted audiences. A recent study by Express Scripts showed a huge rise in usage of Viagra by men between the ages of 18 and 45. The study suggested men in that age range are improperly taking Viagra for recreational use.
Paul Latta, an analyst with Seattle-based McAdams Wright Ragen, said the new Cialis ads still aren’t overtly trying to attract younger users.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to show younger people,” even if the targeted market is older, Latta said. “As a general rule, showing more attractive people is better.”
ICOS and Lilly aren’t the only ones trying out updated commercials in the competitive market for erectile dysfunction drugs. Pfizer Inc., the maker of Viagra, is running new TV and print ads this week that carry the theme “Get back to mischief.”
Nearly 16 percent of all prescriptions written for erectile dysfunction drugs are for Cialis, according to IMS Health statistics from the week ended Aug. 6. That compares to 11 percent for Levitra and 73 percent for Viagra.
ICOS estimates worldwide sales of Cialis will total between $500 million and $600 million this year.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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