THE AMBASSADORS

SELECTED STUDIES

Volume 1, Issues 2
September 1998

Advertising Aphrodisiacs & Quakery in Pre- and Post-VIAGRA Era (Part 1)

By Adel Iskandar BSc (Dal) & Talaat I.Farag FRCP (Edin)

 

The long journey of advertising aphrodisiacs from magico-religious charms to witchdoctors, herbalism, pseudo-scientists and Viagra is an fascinating one. Throughout time, quacks have used aphrodisiacs to exploit vulnerable victims, 30% of whom through the power of suggestion have achieved sexual success from potions, powders and sexual pomades (Renshaw 1978).

Throughout history, wealth-seekers have sought success in marketing what they claim to be sex-potions. And they have very often succeeded in selling their miracle drugs. As we approach the 21st century, obession with sexual performance has become an international phenomenon that many enterpreuners wish to capitalize on. Like all sexually-related products, erotic publication and internet pornography, love-boosters are selling like hot cakes.

Surprisingly, quackery is just as prevalent today as it has ever been, with one remarkable difference. Whereas in the past, advertising aphrodisiacs was primarily by word of mouth, today's billion-dollar marketing business, internet advertising, radio airtime, and commercial-packed television broadcasts have created an enterprise for marketing sex-potions.

Coincidentally, the best-selling and most well-known aphrodisiac in history was released into markets this year. Viagra, the miracle drug for male impotence and sexual-revivor has exploded worldwide. Led by an immense marketing strategy orchestrated by manufacturing company Pfizer and with the aid of news coverage, Viagra, along with Prozac, is undoubtedly among the best-selling drugs in modern medical history. Interestingly, CNN has announced that an American restaurants is now serving Viagra on its meal menu!!

We hope that this feature study will cast light on the importance of honesty in press coverage generally and advertising specifically, especially with regards to marketing medications. The objective of this study is to send a message to advertisers encouraging them to exercise caution in accepting clients and products, as they have a responsibility towards their audiences.

On this occasion, The Ambassadors has decided to dedicate a series focussing on advertising aphrodisiacs throughout modern history.

 

The Greeco-Roman "Aphrodite-Venus Model"

An aphrodisiac is an agent used to arouse sexual desire. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of desire, supposedly sprang from the seed of the god Uranus, symbolized by the foam on the sea from which she rose, naked, near the shores of Cythera bringing sexual exhiliration as her special gift to humans. She has since been worshipped as a fertility goddess throughout the countries of the Mediterranean area. To the Romans, she 3was known as Venus, the beautiful goddess of love. Her mortal lover Aorchises, by whom she became the mother of Aeneas, founder of Rome, and from whom the family of Julius Caesar claimed descent. Even, if the goddess and her family have long since passed into mythology, some believe that she has left a more tangible legacy in the form of a host of animal and vegetable products having her name and reputedly capable of facilitating sexual desire (Rooser 1984, Taberner 1985, Shampo & Kyle 1992). The earliest herbal remedies appear in the Pen T'sae Ching of the Chinese emperor Shen Nung, which was written about 2500 BC, the Pharaonic Ebers papyrus which dates from 1550 BC and the European De Materia Medica of Discorides written in 60 AD and provided the basis for all the subsequent literature for over 1500 years. In Ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Chinese, Indians, Greeco-Romans and Arabs both magico-religious & herbal mixtures were offered to impotent men. Interestingly, the verso of the Edwin-Smith papyrus ends with a recipe for transforming an old man to a youth. Romans inherited most of their knowledge of magic, herbs and medicine from Greeks, then transported it to the new world (Leyel 1955, Taberner 1985, Nunn 1997).

Herbalism & Quackery in the Pre-VIAGRA Era

Herbalism is an ancient & respected science which has led to the discovery of many of the effective drugs used clinically today. Herbal texts have provided the basis for the use of drugs in medicine & the delivery of both materia-medicae, modern pharmacopie & pharmacosexology. The genuine herbalists, have always had complete faith in the value of their treatment & their principal objective has been to help their patients.

The Quacks, in contrast, have unshamedly sought to exploit their clients by offereing nostrums which they know to be ineffective & selling them at inflated prices. Preparations which are claimed to restore virility or banish sexual weakness are obviously going to provide a lucrative business for these charlatans who trade upon the gullibilty & ignorance of their clients. There is a grey area between herbalism and quackery into which many of the reputed aphrodisiac preparations fall. Once a herbal remedy had been shown conclusively to be of little or no work, then it becomes quackery with that knowledge (Hoolbrock 1959, Taberner 1985). In general, a review of faith healing between science and quackery was recently published (Al-Awadi 1997).

Advertising Aphrodisiacs

Before literacy became widespread & journals, magazines, radios & TVs existed, advertising medicines and potions was limited to word-of-mouth of recommendation or "barking" much in the way that a travelling fair or market would attract customers today. In situations where a significant proportion of potential customers might be literal, pamphlets or broadsheets could be distributed or posted on walls to advertise a forthcoming lecture by "Doctor" Dogood or "Professor" Nostrum! The travelling medicine show persisted longer in the United States & many of th quack doctors were highly skilled at selling aphrodisiacs, which they mostly refered to as restoratives, rejuvenators or simply tonics possibly to avoid offending the sensibiliy of potential customers. Many of the traditional nostrums contained secret ingredients was not because of fear of competition, but because the ingredients were known to be both useless & a lot cheaper than the cost of the remedy would suggest (Taberner 1985).

Advertising Aphrodisiacs in the 18th Century

The increasing prosperity of Britain in the 18th century, mainly a result of the industrial revolution, contributed to the religious fervour of the previous centuries being replaced by more materialistic attitude to a life in which there was increasing scope for gawing some of the wealth that had previously been limited to the inherited fortunes of the landed gentry. The climate was ideal for the proliferation of charlatons & quacks, many of whom made fortunes out of gullible & ignorant public. Most newspapers of the 18th century relied heavily on the income from advertising & sometimes advertisement sections provided the most interesting data. A very large proportion of the advertisements appearing in the days before legislation promised potent medicines of astonishingly wide efficiency and potency, in other words, what we would now call quack medicine. Advertisements of this era were usually of the "Puffing" variety; since, they merely made exaggerated claims for a product, eg. The TIMES, two centuries ago, on the 3rd October 1798, published this advertisement for Dr. Brodum's Nervous Cordial & Botanical Syrup:

[TO THE PUBLIC: The increasing sale of Dr. Brodum's Nervous Cordial & Botanical Syrup sufficiently evinces their efficiency in the cure of those complaints for which they are recommended. To the afflicted with nervous disorders, to those suffering from change of heat or climate and to those who labour under weakness & relaxations, this medicine is recommended as a powerful restorative, and to thousands of young people growing old before their time].

The North American approach tended to prefer the blunt & uncompromising statement rather than the long-winded sermonizing of Dr. Brodum, eg. In Cincinnati, Dr. Raphael wrote of his Cordial Invigorant:

[The cordial stimulates the sluggish animal powers to healthy action and with vigor comes NATURAL DESIRE. It brings the system up to the virile point & KEEPS IT THERE].

Advertising Aphrodisiacs in the 19th Century

The TIMES at the beginning of the last century, published a letter from a physician to Dr. Taylor;

[Sir, with the blessing of God, having recieved a great cure, in a scrofulous case, by taking your Scake's Potent Pills, I deem it incumbet on me to give you an account on it, begging that, for the good of others you would make it as public as possible]

By the end of the 19th century in America, "the lost manhood" aspect of nostrum industry was a fast growing section of the US economy. One of the most practical means of attacking the quacks made possible was by chemical analysis of their secret remedies & potions & calculating the cost of the ingredients, eg. Dr. Lecoys Vigroids were nothing but sugar-coated tablets containing ferrous phosphate, quinine, strychnine, vegetable extract, sugar, starch & talc! At the same time, as Dr. Lecoy's Vigroids were restoring the lost youth and vitality of Europe, in Calcutta "Kaviraj Keshal Loll Roy's Wonderful Remedies" were fulfilling the same purpose in India. This charlatan has no less than four remedies specific for debility including Ratiballav Moduck which is:

[...a powerful aphrodisiac, which gives vigour to the nerves & organs; enhances the manly power, strengthens the nerves & nourishes the blood vessels & muscles. It makes life cheerful & blessing. It is what every husband should have & what every wife desire in her heart of hearts]

The Calcutta Kaviraj Roy had another famous remedy, the Vigour Pill, which he calls, "The friend of the deluded youth" (Hoolbock 1959, Taberner 1985).

Advertising Aphrodisiacs in the 20th Century

In 1909, Walsh published an important book about "Quacks, False Remedies and the Public Health" and the British Medical Association (BMA) published a book about secret remedies containing a series of articles in which the content of the many "theraputic miracles & nerve tonics" was revealed. The chief pioneer of legislation against the quacks & ineffective drugs was Howard Wiley. His efforts were largely responsible for introducing the Pure Food & Drug Act in 1906 and the founding of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), who still supervise the testing & licensing of food and drugs in the USA. Nevertheless, it is still possible to find advertisements in adult magazines for Pseudo-Hand-On-Pills, Jungle Love, Vice Spice !!! (Taberner 1985). It might be thought that the establishment of quantitative scientific principles during the 19th century and the advancements in general education would have conspired to diminish belief in the old superstitions & created a new rational way of thinking. This was not the case, as a sexual function was concerned (Chapman 1942).

 

Vitamin- H3, Modern Quackery & Pseudo-Science

Some European entreprenuers have described their products as dietary supplements or even vitamins. The prime example is the marketing of Vitamin-H3, which is another name for the drug Procaine which acts principally as local anesthetic. In 1950s, Dr. Ana Aslan, of the Bucharest Institute of geriatrics, claimed that she had treated tens of thousands of geriatric patients over many years, who were suffering of various symptoms of aging & reduced libido with Procaine injections which was given in the form of a preparation called Gerovital. In 1972, Dr. Aslan claimed that this drug produced improvement of sexual drive at a scientific conference in Bucharest (Bailey 1977, Thomas 1981, Taberner 1985). Though well-controlled trials of the drug demonstrated no positive benefit, the drug is still available in quack preparations for oral dosing and expensive cosmetics with a greater usage by senior citizens. The rather strange formula of Celaton CH3, Triplus in the advertisement (right) is interesting. This expensive drug does not provide more vitamins than eating corn flakes, fresh vegetables & fruits!

From Dr. PV Taberner's book (1985)

Victims of Aphrodisiac Advertisements

Some of those who seek sexual rainbows using non-prescribed chemicals or even herbs, often improve, but sometimes this is not only toxic, but lethal cases were reported in African & American hospitals (Renshaw 1978). There has been instances of accidental self-poisioning & death of Asian impotent men by folk remedies. There are several Urdu newspapapers in Britain which carry advertisements for perputed precious aphrodisiacs containing heavy metals like gold, silver and lead. In 1978, Bearly & Forsythe reported a 24-years-old Bangladeshi man, who was hospitalized with acute abdominal pain after the ingestion of four coloured remedies with 40% lead content. In 1991, Dr. Dolan & his colleagues in Sheffield reported lead poisioning in a 50-years-old Pakistani, who used three prepartions, with high lead content, given to him by traditional Asian practitioners. Other cases of lead poisoning were reported from Asian herbal folklore remedies (Lightfoote et al. 1977, Pontifex & Garg 1985).

In 1995, "The Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report" (MMWR) discussed deaths associated with a purported aphrodisiac in New York City. During the period from February 1953- May 1995 four purely healthy men died with cardiac arrhythmias due to inappropriate use of preparations containing digoxin-like substances after the ingestion of a substance advertised as Tropical Aphrodisiac. In 1996, Barry et al. reported the death of a 23-years-old man with digoxin-like toxicity & heart failure after the ingestion of a West Indian aphrodisiac known as Love Stone. Forensic analysis identified a substance derived from toad venom or secretions called butofenine. In Italy, Dr. Polettini & his colleagues reported in 1997, the death of a 38-years-old Italian trade agent, due to voluntary ingestion of three teaspoonfuls of Cantharides Powder added to a cup of tea for an aphrodisiac effect. Similar deathes were reported from other countries (Weinblatt 1994, Pierach 1996).

Quackery in Post-VIAGRA Era

In March 1998, the FDA signed the birth certificate to VIAGRA, the Pfizer Pharmaceutical Incorporation remedy for Male Erectile Dysfunction (MED). Recently, the Royal Society of Medicine (London), published Kiley's (1998) interesting data on the "Quality of medical information on the internet" showing modern quackery in the post-VIAGRA era. He mentioned: "After the recent US, FDA approval of Viagra (Sildenafil), the male erectile dysfunction drug, several web sites came online and began marketing products with names such as VIAGRO and VAEGRA by using a similar sounding name and citing the promotional data by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, the purveyors were trying to mislead potential patients. When Pfizer began filing law suits, these web sites quickly disappeared".

At the end of Dr. Peter Taberner's book, which was published 13 years before the delivery of Viagra and is reviewed in this issue of The Ambassadors, he mentioned: "From the evidence of the last five thousand years, there can be little doubt that there will always be a future for aphrodisiacs". In the post-Viagra era, we need to have a better understanding about advertising aphrodisiacs in general.

Advertising Codes of Practice & Ethical Reporting

At the end of the first article of this series, it is interesting to quote Cumming & McKercher 1993:

[Rough concensus exists among Western journalists on ethical values and behaviour, like doctors or lawyers, journalists try to meet problems with responsible decisions that reflect the major values associated with their occupation. These values include such ideas as telling the truth as they see it]

Responsible coverage is not only limited to the news but also to the advertising and advertising sectors.

References:

Email: ambassadors@sprint.ca

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