The Wild 19-Year Run of Viagra

As Pfizer releases a cheaper version of its own pioneering drug today, Bloomberg gives us an oral history of Viagra. In fewer than 20 years on the market, Viagra became one of culture’s favorite hack jokes and made Pfizer a tremendous amount of money. Originally designed in South East England to combat high blood pressure, the drug that became Viagra had the side effect of giving men more erections. After some meddling, Pfizer found itself with the first pill designed to fight impotence, a condition the corporation and its ad agency rebranded as “erectile dysfunction.” The oral history takes us inside the fight to make sex pills mainstream and Viagra’s unforeseeable journey toward ubiquity.

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