Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Tim Parry

On Monday mornings last fall, the most talked about sports radio topic had nothing to do with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback's Ben Rothelsberger's composure, the business-as-usual New England Patriots, or Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens' Monday Night Football cross promotion with Desperate Housewives star Nicollette Sheriden.

Instead, it was fathers, calling to complain that they were watching football with their sons and then hearing that question during a commercial break.

“What's erectile dysfunction?”

The ads target active seniors, but it was too much information for kids, or their parents. NFL games are not exclusive to erectile dysfunction medications — they have become a part of the cluttered sports landscape.

Pfizer's Viagra-brand sildenafil citrate tablets have been a sponsor of NASCAR driver Mark Martin's No. 6 Ford since 2000, and get plenty of on-air minutes during Nextel Cup series races. Viagra also sponsors Major League Baseball, while PGA gets big bucks from Eli Lilly's Cialis brand, and the NFL does business with Levitra.

“A Hall of Fame quarterback endorsing your product or a sponsorship of a PGA Tour event can provide the imagery or messaging platform that makes an event marketing or sampling program break through,” says Woody Thompson, a VP at Octagon, who handles Viagra's sports marketing campaigns. “All of these tactics can absolutely help educate seniors, but sports marketing on its own is really a catalyst that combines with a marketing tactic to differentiate the brand message from others and make it more impactful to the audience.”

But parents need no longer worry. As part of a new set of pharmaceutical industry guidelines announced in July, these types of ads targeting seniors are pushed back to late-night television (where they are already a punchline by Letterman, Leno and Kimmel).

But the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) is not just changing the times that active seniors can get those television reminders. It's also changing how pharmaceuticals market and promote any new drugs that come down the line.

According to PhRMA's guiding principals about direct-to-consumer marketing of prescription medicines, which will go into effect in January, companies must submit all new DTC television advertisements to the FDA prior to releasing them for broadcast. DTC television advertising that identifies a product by name must clearly state the health conditions for which the medicine is approved and the major risks associated with the medicine being advertised.

As part of the new principles, which PhRMA says exceeds current FDA regulations, PhRMA will establish an Office of Accountability, responsible for receiving comments from the general public and health care professionals regarding DTC ads.

“The PhRMA Office of Accountability will issue periodic reports to the public regarding the nature of the comments and the signatory companies' responses, and it will provide a copy of each report to the FDA,” says PhRMA CEO Billy Tauzin.

PhRMA a wants ads to achieve a balanced presentation of the benefits and risks associated with the product as well as safety information. It also wants companies to educate health professionals about new medicines before beginning the first campaign.

Lilly CEO Sidney Taurel says his company would strive for higher standards and continue to develop only campaigns that reinforce the physician-patient relationship. It will also eliminate advertisement during programs that may be viewed by younger audiences, including the Super Bowl and the Olympics Games.

Pfizer said it would wait six months before marketing new drugs, and will also keep Viagra marketing away from children's eyes and ears.

“The new guidelines will restrict all of the marketing disciplines, not just advertising,” says Octagon's Thompson. “It provides the opportunity for marketers is to do better work…to create new ways of reaching consumers within the established boundaries, whether it's a thirty second radio spot, a logo behind home plate at an MLB ballpark, or a sampling booth at a Home & Garden show.”

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