Ad campaign for erection drug offers rival brands free

In an unprecedented campaign, the prescription medicines, Viagra and Levitra, will be offered if Cialis fails to work in men with erectile dysfunction.

The new ad, which follows on from the first showing a man and a woman in in separate bathtubs earlier this year, now shows two empty bathtubs with the tagline: "Looks like someone discovered the Cialis promise."

Cialis, made by Eli Lilly and Icos Corp, also claims the drug works for 36 hours, compared with four hours for Viagra, and can be taken without regard to food.

To sample the drug, a Cialis voucher can be downloaded from the company's website and taken to a pharmacy for a free trial. If the patient is happy with the drug, he can send off the pharmacy receipt to obtain another sample of Cialis tablets, as prescribed by his doctor. If he is not happy he can try the rival brands, Viagra and Levitra, for free by sending off the receipt and personal statement.

The battle for the multibillion-dollar erectile dysfunction market has become one of the ad industry's highest profile clashes since Levitra and Cialis, the two challengers to Pfizer's Viagra, were introduced last year.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com