Pfizer DTC message: Hey guys, women say it's cool to take Viagra

Sure, drug companies, doctors and other men can tell those with erectile dysfunction that they're not alone. But do they listen more closely when they hear it from a woman?

That's what Pfizer's aiming to find out with a new Viagra commercial featuring an attractive blond on the beach. "So guys, it's just you and your honey. The setting is perfect. But then erectile dysfunction happens again," she says. "You know what? Plenty of guys have this issue, not just getting an erection, but keeping it."

Following more than a decade of Viagra campaigns starring men, the pharma giant made the switch to help put men with ED "at ease," Pfizer spokesman Steve Danehy told FiercePharmaMarketing in an email. It's a "new and unexpected approach to de-stigmatize ED" that the company hopes will reassure men and motivate them to speak with their doctors.

FDA backs ED upstart Stendra as a fast-acting alternative to Viagra

It's no picnic competing with a cultural phenom. Auxilium and Vivus  know this well: Their new erectile dysfunction pill Stendra has to go up against Pfizer's  Viagra. Competition from Eli Lilly's blockbuster Cialis doesn't help, either.

That's why the companies have been studying Stendra for some sort of competitive edge. Now, they may have found one: The FDA backed the ED pill as a fast-acting treatment, taken 15 minutes before sex. Previously, the directions prescribed a 30-minute lead time.

Cue the talk of spontaneity. Lilly's Cialis is taken daily, while Pfizer advises men to take Viagra one to two hours beforehand.