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How Tech Helped Create a New Erectile Dysfunction Crisis
Startups are exploiting the market Viagra created, but experts are wary
In 1998, Pfizer hired Bob Dole to be a spokesperson for Viagra. The former senator and presidential candidate epitomized the target audience for the new erectile dysfunction (ED) medication: A 75-year-old prostate cancer survivor, Dole’s erectile struggles were brought on by advanced age and ill health. In a commercial for Pfizer, he notes that conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and prostate surgery can also result in erectile issues, solidifying the public image of ED as a problem primarily faced by the elderly and the infirm.
But lately, that long-standing image of erectile dysfunction is starting to change. According to the website for SKYN Arise, a brand-new telemedicine website backed by the condom brand Lifestyles, “40% of men experience erectile dysfunction symptoms by age 40.” Hims, one of the best-known names in ED telemedicine, has made similar claims about the rates of erectile woes among young people; a third site, Roman, pegs the ED rate among the under-40 set at 26%. It’s a stark change from the era of Bob Dole — and in conjunction with sensational headlines about sex recessions and porn-induced erectile dysfunction, these marketing claims can make…
