Can you mix cialis and Viagra?

Once upon a time, a big American pharmaceutical company named Pfizer accidentally discovered a new treatment for erectile dysfunction -- Viagra, the little blue pill. Originally developed as a treatment for heart disease, its penile erection enhancing effects were noted in clinical trials and Pfizer quickly saw the drug's potential marketability as the first pill for men with trouble getting it up or keeping it up. Patented in 1996 and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for prescription-only sale in 1998, Viagra became a smashing financial success, exceeding annual sales of $1 billion every year since its introduction.

The shrewd folks at Pfizer surely knew they had a pistol of a drug on their hands -- after all, men are obsessed with their own erections. And in the beginning, Pfizer pretended to be all serious about erectile dysfunction, even managing to convince the unsuccessful Republican presidential nominee of 1996, Robert Dole, to endorse Viagra in those now-famous television commercials. You have to congratulate Pfizer for recognizing the inherent snicker factor of its product, so casting humorless elder statesman Dole, a man with the charisma of a lemon, as a spokesperson makes perfect sense.

Pfizer cunningly gave us permission to mock the failed presidential hopeful about his sex life while we simultaneously and silently thanked Jesus for the discovery of the little blue pill. Now that everyone on the planet, excluding Chinese peasants with no access to TV, knows about Viagra, Pfizer has brazenly shifted its marketing strategy. And their advertising isn't even remotely directed at men with erectile dysfunction anymore -- it's full of vibrant sports heroes (NASCAR drivers declaring, "Gentlemen, start your engines!"), attractive professional types strutting through offices (colleagues ponder what's different about Joe and Bob these days) and most recently, ads featuring guys with the blue V from Viagra's brand logo rising behind their heads like a pair of Devil horns.

Pfizer is now selling sexual performance, which clearly goes beyond the FDA-approved indication of the drug. The not-so-very subtle new message is obvious: every guy can have a mischievous, raging, new and improved penis.