FirstMed Consulting Blog

A one-float parade consisting of an unauthorized Viva Viagra missile made the rounds in Manhattan last month. However Pfizer, not amused, went to court to prevent a repeat performance. A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Wednesday that Arye Sachs’ antics infringe on a trademark held by Pfizer Inc.

Sachs, an Israeli-born aircraft collector and mobile-billboard entrepreneur, hauled the missile on a trailer hitched to his car and towed the seven ½-metre-long rocket last month to various spots in Manhattan, including Pfizer’s headquarters.

The judge said Sachs’ use of the slogan could make people think his missile was a Pfizer-approved ad. The court also said he might “harm Pfizer’s reputation” with a plan to invoke Viagra’s while distributing politically themed condoms.

According to Pfizer’s complaint, on September 8 Sachs’s Jet Angel company “transported through Manhattan, and even brought to Pfizer’s world headquarters on 42nd Street, a replica missile prominently bearing Pfizer’s VIVA VIAGRA mark and logo on its side in the same color and distinctive lettering style used in Pfizer’s own VIVA VIAGRA advertisements.” Apparently, the court has since ordered Sachs to remove the Viagra logo. Hence, the Viva Viagra has since been replaced with “Censored by a Federal Court” (as since in the above picture)

Just in case some people at Pfizer HQ missed the stunt, Sachs & Co. sent an e-mail to Pfizer indicating their plans to return, they announced an imminent “tour” of VIAGRA-branded missiles in New York and “twelve other major cities,” complete with models distributing free condoms depicting Senators McCain and Obama . .

Arye Sachs, said no one would be deterred from buying the blue pills because of what he did, The New York Post reported Wednesday. He says he knows because he’s a “customer.”