Top drug firm's Viagra ad is a hard act to follow

Stock analysts, or at least their reports, are not known for salacious humour. But after looking at the latest advert Pfizer has put out for its best-selling sex drug, Viagra, we are wondering if the puns were intended in a new report put out by the US investment rating company Morning Star recommending a strong buy on the drug maker.

As a proper family newspaper, we can't really reproduce the ad, even though it has run in mass-circulation magazines like Next. Suffice to say, it features cucumbers, bananas and marshmallow candy sticks, practically a full vegetarian menu. It is titled 'The Art of Hardness'.

The Morning Star report goes like this: 'In an industry where size matters, Pfizer dominates the landscape. As the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, Pfizer has the resources to invest more than its competitors - in research and development as well as marketing. This unmatched heft, combined with a broad portfolio of patent-protected drugs, has helped Pfizer build a wide moat around its business.

'Being the biggest has conferred certain advantages upon Pfizer.' (The italics are mine.)

Perhaps Morning Star should be renamed Morning Glory.