Viagra

It seems odd to me that there are so many commercials about drugs for erectile dysfunction out there. It is downright distressing that there are so many that air at what seem like inappropriate times. Specially, there are tons of Viagra commercials during Sunday NFL football and all the baseball playoff games. The very nature of the product means that the commercial will be charged with sexual innuendo that is probably not appropriate for young children.

I let the kids watch football and baseball when I am watching before their bedtimes. Usually, I am DVRing the game, so it is real easy to fast-forward past the commercials, but often enough, I am caught up with live action and cannot fast forward. As far as I can tell, the kids do not share my discomfort and are not paying close enough attention to even be confused. It is probably not that big a deal for them to be subjected to these commercials.

It is possible that I should not allow my children to watch sports on T.V. Practically speaking, if that is the case, though, it means I have to watch all my sports after the kids are in bed or while they are gone. Or, it means I have to watch sports in my room (on the non-HD Tv ... I will not do that ... usually, I would rather not watch at all). I guess not watching while the kids are around is certainly an option. Sports and National Geographic shows are pretty much all I watch when the kids are up. Any other programs I watch are when the kids are either in bed or completely away.

But, one thing that I do not understand is: why do we need Viagra commercials at all? As far as I know, you cannot just go out and buy Viagra. can you? Don't you have to have go to a doctor and have it prescribed? Aren't the doctors already aware of what Viagra (or other erectile dysfunction drugs) does already? For that matter, why are any prescription drugs advertised on TV? I just cannot imagine buying more of a given specific prescription drug because I see it advertised on T.V. Obviously, I am missing something, because if it was not extremely effective to advertise, drug companies would not being doing it so much. They probably would not be doing it all, and certainly not in the middle of the afternoon or early evening when my kids and I are watching football or baseball.