Impotence Drugs Trigger a Marketing Battle

Judging from the number of times the word "erection" has been used on television in recent months, you might think that episodes of The Sopranos or NYPD Blue are airing more than programming schedules indicate.

Not exactly. This expansion of TV's vocabulary represents government-approved commercials -- with government-required descriptions of side effects -- for impotence treatments, as the manufacturers of the newest drugs, Levitra and Cialis, step up their campaigns to take customers away from Viagra, which had a U.S. monopoly for more than five years.

The descriptive ads are only part of what is shaping up as a fierce and expensive marketing battle for drugs treating erectile dysfunction, better known to marketers as E.D. ...