Judge Rules In Favour Of Pfizer In Viagra Missile Case

Pfizer did not get the joke

Some good news for Pfizer the world’s largest drug maker is that after being ordered to pay a $2.3 billion fine by the United States Justice Department for violations of Federal rules concerning prescription medication, another judge has ruled in their favour concerning another one of their numerous court cases. In this case Pfizer had initiated legal action to stop an individual carrying a huge missile around New York which had the words "Viva Viagra" clearly written right across it. The seven metre long missile was even parked outside the headquarters of Pfizer as a publicity stunt to promote advertising space on unused military equipment.

The owner of a missile Mr. Arye Sachs argued that he was doing Pfizer a big favour promoting their impotence medicine and in any case he was should be allowed to use the Viagra name because of the right to free speech. Pfizer however who said that they had a clear strategy for promoting Viagra in a responsible and serious way said that Mr. Sachs’s missile undermined this. The Judge William Pauley said that the Viagra trademark had been infringed and he said that while he appreciated that the defendants were just trying to be funny; Pfizer “did not get the joke”.

The missile advertisement actually generated a huge amount of attention and got a lot of laughs but in fact made a mockery of the serious medical condition erectile dysfunction.
Despite the ruling against him Mr. Arye Sachs is likely to have done the best thing possible to promote his advertising business by going ahead with this publicity stunt and the resulting legal action has only served to promote his business even more.

In America advertisements for prescription medication are in fact not illegal whereas in the United Kingdom you are not allowed to mention the names of any prescription medications in any advertisements.