What are the consequences of alternative marketing strategies?Perhaps few marketing campaigns have received as much critical attention as the ad campaigns for Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra, drugs intended to counteract erectile dysfunction. Much of the criticism has focused on the ad placements, particularly in places where young children would see them such as during prime-time television and during high-profile sporting events. Other criticisms suggest that although these drugs can be used to treat real medical conditions, they are being marketed as little more than recreational drugs and sex toys. Erectile dysfunction can be a problem for older men, and especially for men recovering from such medical treatments as prostate surgery. But for younger and otherwise healthy men, the primary causes of erectile dysfunction are alcohol consumption, obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, and the use of other prescription drugs. All of these causes are either easily addressed without reliance on pharmaceuticals or, as is the case with alcohol abuse, make erectile dysfunction drugs potentially unsafe.