In early 1999, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals launched a major national ad campaign for Viagra, a drug designed to counteract erectile dysfunction. A media literacy analysis of a Viagra print ad using the keys of context, framework, and production values provides insight into American popular culture’s preoccupation with youth and fulfillment of the romantic ideal. Within this context, the Viagra ad is a modern fairy tale -- Cinderella or perhaps Sleeping Beauty is more to the point: a mature couple restored to youthful vigor and living happily ever after, thanks to the magical powers of Viagra.

Although demographics reveal that seniors are a growing majority in the U.S., media messages bombard us with youth-worship. Americans’ obsession with aging has created an enormous market for the fountain of youth in all its guises: face lifts, tummy tucks, wrinkle creams, flashy sports cars, and all manner of remedies to increase energy, memory, and sexual function. This cultural context sets the stage for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals to introduce Viagra in December 1997.

A full-page ad in the March 1999 issue of Condé Nast Traveller features a handsome, gray-templed man in a well-cut dark suit dancing with a slender, silver-haired woman who is dressed in a gold dress and jacket ensemble. The couple is dancing in what, on close inspection, appears to be the foyer of a European castle. The couple’s elegant appearance, combined with the setting, create an ambiance of affluence and privilege.

The background is in soft focus, bathed in a golden light that suggests sunset and romance. The dancers themselves represent a very traditional notion of a romantic couple. The man is considerably taller than the woman, so that he occupies the upper, or dominant space in the photo. His strength is evident as he easily dips his partner with just one arm, his other hand free. The woman’s foot and head are slightly blurred with motion, capturing the spontaneity of the moment. Her husband is literally “sweeping her off her feet” in this romantic place. A woman discreetly descending the stairs in the center left of the background provides an audience for this rendezvous, shifting it to a public setting, which hearkens back to the notion of a ball.

Here the romantic ideal has been extended to include those over the age of 25. Nowhere do we find a trace of the unpleasant realities that aging often brings. In fact, the only hint of the couple’s maturity is their hair color. In this world, age brings wealth and prestige, the freedom to do as one pleases, and power -- the power to buy back one’s potency, in pill form if need be.

The phrase “Let the dance begin” may spark memories for a generation raised on romantic tunes like “Dancing in the Dark,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” and “Shall We Dance?” “The dance” can be interpreted as a metaphor for sex, couched in delicate terms to avoid offending the intended older audience. But the big promise of the ad is that Viagra will restore not just the sex but the romance to the relationship.

The image of the spontaneous and glamorous couple in the ad trades on the romantic ideals the audience was raised on and the fairy tale ending we’d all like to believe in. In keeping with the romantic illusion of the ad, no patient information is included in the text. The inclusion of hard facts about sexual dysfunction and possible side effects would spoil the romantic mood. Ultimately, the ad is not selling a pharmaceutical product, but the most sought-after commodity of all-- a return to the romance of youth.