Twenty-five years ago, 75-year-old Bob Dole — former Republican presidential candidate and U.S. senator from Kansas — went on “Larry King Live” and declared himself to be sexually impotent.
Later that year, he became an official pitchman for Viagra, which the Food and Drug Administration approved in late March 1998 for the treatment of erectile dysfunction — though that now-common phrase hadn’t yet made its way to the lexicon. Pfizer was paying Dole to help remove the stigma and shame associated with the condition.
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In another ad, a couple dances with a prominent focus on their wedding rings. The ad’s tagline was “Let the Dance Begin.” No mention of Viagra. But a clear message that if erectile dysfunction had left a marriage bed cold, Pfizer now had a solution.
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