Effect Measure

I know I shouldn’t, but I just have to ask. What’s with the bath tubs on the Cialis ads? (in case you live in a bubble, Cialis is for “erectile dysfunction,” what we used to call impotence).

The original Cialis ads were faux tasteful things (at least compared to the really toe curling “Viva Viagra” ads) that always ended up with the couple holding hands in a natural setting. The impression you got was that when you take Cialis the time is usually right when you are outdoors. Inconvenient. Then at some point it morphed into the couple each in their own bath tubs, as in the pic from their website. the bath tubs are even part of the logo, now.

Please, someone tell me what the bath tub motif is all about. I’m clueless.

Comments

#1 Susan Och
January 13, 2009

When those ads first came out the bathtubs were poised at the top of a hill, implying that the couple was about to start a bathtub sliding race. Maybe the subliminal message was “Get some now, cause it’s all downhill from here?”

A hot bath is something that women are more interested in. When the guy is in the bathtub he is meeting the woman on her turf, as befits the “when she’s ready” text of the ads. Compare the motifs to Viagra’s ads, which are all about driving the race car, throwing the ball through the tire, or even singing in a blues band with the guys. The only woman to appear prominently in a Viagra ad was that wiggly woman who squirmed like a puppy while she told the closeup camera that her man didn’t need Viagra, it just made him more exciting. I suspect that ad got pulled because it made us all wonder if we were subsidizing their excitement with our Blue Cross premiums. I heard complaints from older women about Viagra along the same lines — sex became all about the pill and the flagpole and the women felt they were just bit players.

I’m not including Viagra’s “dancing ads” in my analysis, because they were the first, and last of the series. The first ED ads were all about how to talk about sex without mentioning sex. My husband joked that Viagra must be a drug for guys who can’t dance because every ad ended with a couple dancing. The latest ad starts with dancing and ends with the couple sneaking away from the dance floor and into an elevator. I suspect that we’ve broken the taboo, and don’t need dancing as a metaphor anymore.
#2 Poppy
January 14, 2009

Reference to Big Sur and Esalen where they did the ‘alternative science’ like meditation, relaxation therapy, massage, etc. and etc. in the late sixties?

Boomers needing a boost would probably identify it ….
#3 Jimmy
January 14, 2009

Bathtubs- because you can’t show naked, mutually aroused adults on the sandy beach on TV, but you can imply they are naked and mutually aroused whilst lounging in soapy tubs on a sandy beach on TV. Tubs, the new toga.
#4 Mike Haubrich, FCD
January 14, 2009

I think it is to convey the impression that Cialis is ripe for a slow, romantic build-up to sex and not as much about rushing to the goal. Take your time, relax, have a wonderful evening just “being” with your partner.

It’s that 36-hour effectiveness thing.

Reminds me of the joke that Robert Duvall told Sean Penn in Colors.

“There were two bulls on the hill, looking over the pasture of cows. The younger bull, said ‘Let’s run down this hill and fuck one of these cows.’ The older bull turned to the younger one and said, ‘No, let’s walk down this hill and fuck them all.’”

Since Cialis is presumably for older men, it appeals to the idea of taking it easy and enjoying sex for a longer time. A warm bath is a relaxing setting, with more at hand than merely getting clean.

Plus the couple is nekkid on camera without being exposed.
#5 maryn
January 14, 2009

I’m so glad you asked this, I’ve always wondered about it… because, separate bathtubs? To me – and maybe I am too young for the demo, though not if the many anecdotes about younger men taking it for fun not need are true – separate bathtubs has a faint suggestion of separate beds. One bathtub, now that would be sexy.
#6 Clare
January 14, 2009

Aside from all the plausible suggestions already provided, it might also be a money-saver. As twin bathtubs become the product’s logo, all they have to do is change the backdrop. Still, if I’m going to be assaulted by these ads whenever I watch anything targeting the “old geezer” television demographic, I’d rather see picturesque bathtubs in a variety of appropriately rugged settings (Victoria Falls; Mt. Etna; Devil’s Tower) than the ads for “natural male enhancement” like the dreaded “Smiling Bob.”
#7 Algerine
January 14, 2009

I think Mike has it half-right; the tubs were part of the whole “more time for romance” theme of the first commercial. I think the reason they are now reappearing in the newer commercials is because the advertising agency discovered that people have made and association between the bath tub and the product; the general public may not remember the name Cialis, but they know it’s that drug from that commercial with the couple in the two bath tubs.
#8 Patch
January 15, 2009

Speaking of commercials…there are a ton of them out there, but two of them drive me crazy.

1. Extenz – Male enhancement remedy. Who are these people??

2. Colon Cleanse – Self explanatory.

How anybody can believe this stuff is beyond me. But wasting money on them is even more amazing…

They area both nuts, but the colon cleanse thing really gets me. First the guy looks like he just came in from the street corner selling women into slavery. He scares me. But the claims are just outrageous!

As for the bathtub…I’ve always wondered the same thing. Seems a little weird. Except perhaps a slow “buildup” verses the quick burst with Viagra.
#9 Joe Milfseeker
January 28, 2009

Cialis gave the guy a 4hr woody, he is takinmg a cold bath to try to bring it down after they both were exhausted from 30 minutes of heavy sexual activity. The lady is in a warm bath of couse trying to sooth the soreness she has from the same activity.
#10 Candyce Conley
March 28, 2009

these pharma ads are now in the thousands, in 2002 in the hundreds, the cost for drugs has risen dramatically. Who else can afford advertising? Write the FDA and tell them these people need brakes put on them. Ads are misleading and create a climate of fear that drives people to pressure their health providers and purchase these “necessary” drugs.
#11 Lyn
March 28, 2009

The bathtubs are not an issue for me but erectile dysfunction advertising is. I am speaking of placing ads for Viagra and Cialis on t.v. at times when young children are watching. They just pop up and you do not have time to prepare for them, (LIKE TURN THE TV OFF). Naturally, the kids are going to ask questions then. I just think pills for sexual dysfunctions should not be advertised at all, much less on prime times. See your Doctor please! Geesh
#12 Sarah Willis
March 28, 2009

I always wonder how they fill the tubs with water. Many of the men who need cialis have underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure…to name a few …and are on medications which further deplete their sexual arousal. By the time they have lugged the water to the two tubs up the hill or down on the shore, erectile dysfunction will probably be the least of their problems. A little nitroglycerin, please. Ah, but wait…no nitrates with cialis.
#13 Sheila
March 29, 2009

I have to agree with Lyn about putting those type of commercials on TV where the kids can see them. But, I think that goes for some of the other, non-ED drugs advertised on TV also. I’ll never forget the day my then-10-year-old son came to me as he was watching TV, wanting to know what genital herpes were, because “the guy on the commercial said he had them, but his girlfriend didn’t, and they were going to keep it that way with that medicine!!”
#14 John
March 29, 2009

I have wondered about the bathtubs. I think at has to be subliminal. I think the idea is to create negative space between the tubs and under the tubs. This is more apparent in the online “roll over” ads, and at the Cailis web site. The negative space creates the shape of a penis and two testicles.
#15 Hot Tub Ted
March 29, 2009

I have had it……I will create my OWN Cialis commercial. I will hire 2 big-breasted pole dancers from the local strip club and we will start filming at my hot tub….then we will place this “correct” commercial on the youtube and the internets…..by the way, this will be a foursome….Mr. Bubble will be there too….
#16 BN
April 22, 2009

This has always bothered me. The only explanation I can come up with is that the stuff works so well he is just going to drill right THROUGH his tub…
#17 rskwooley
May 30, 2009

Cialis really gets your pipes flowing or plumbing flowing. Or there is so much juice you have to stay in a tub.
#18 charles taylor
June 7, 2009

i have to commend some of you on your imagination. the fact is, these are just the dumbest ads ever. they are senseless, and have no cohesion to the product. if they have to resort to subliminal, then they absolutely don’t belong. as for the guy driving the race car and all that crap about having a longer dong, this one really needs to go as well. it will save wal-mart from putting security alarms on products on the shelves.
#19 DJ
June 26, 2009

The bathtub motif just makes another useless product more nonsensical. I am part of their demographic, yet I believe that 90% or more of the people who take these “blue pills” have a problem between their ears! Mommy didn’t breast feed them long enough, or they’ve been emasculated by a stronger woman for all of their adult lives!

The idiotic bathtubs, and the use of what was a fairly innocuous Elvis song that I-now-detest makes me wish for some new law that removes those ads from all airwaves!

Yeah .. just what *I* wanted: to sit on top of a hill in some rusty, nasty old bathtub someone dragged from the landfill and watch the sunset! Get real!
#20 Virginia
July 28, 2009

I did a search on the Cialis “tub theme” cos my boyfriend was making me crazy wondering about it. I found this blog IMMENSELY amusing– so thank you all! I read your comments out loud and we giggled a whole lot– now maybe we should go have sex. . . laughing is SEXY– with or without a tub!
#21 John M Davis
August 2, 2009

Grins from many of the entries here. Trying to make a rational interpretation for an image which makes no sense is futile. Has ANYONE ever done this, or does anyone know anyone who has done this?

The apparent answer to this is that it makes sense TO MAKE NO SENSE. Cialis’ debut was relatively late in the marketing of systemic erectile products, yet here we are obsessing over the meaning of its ads. When we ask our physician to prescribe us such a product, which one are we most likely to select by brand-name? Well, we are likely to remember the name of the product which so has captured our attention. It’s about profit, market share, MONEY! (Did we ever imagine it otherwise?)
#22 Quasimodo
August 9, 2009

The bathtub thing has made me crazy,too.I can only surmize that the pills work so well that both partners must soak their gonads to recuperate.So it’s brilliant advertising.Since we have other products that do the same thing,Cialis has differentiated itself by having a weird,yet memorable commercial.Having Separate bathtubs out in the open is beyond explicable.It’s not cool nor elite, it’s just stupid weird,hence the effectiveness of the ad.Too bad we have to see it so damn many times every single day.(Hey,we get it!) And those rotating fools who recite the BS disclaimer.Geez! If my Johnson dies, I’m burying it not drugging it…
#23 Elizabeth
August 16, 2009

My husband and I also noticed how silly these commercials were and were trying to find out what their point is when we landed ourselves here. THANK YOU for the laughs! My whole thing with these tubs is that they don’t really even hint at intimacy! If I didnt know what Cialis was I’d think it was for relaxing. Now if they were to start showing ads where he is climbing into HER tub WITH her… ah then we’d all say, “THATS WHY!!” As for these ads running when kids are around– time to get over our hangups! If they’re old enough to have questions or show interest they’re old enough to know! Sex is a natural part of life! Well.. unless you’re stuck in separate bathtubs wondering how you’re going to make it work across the great divide!
#24 Laura
August 17, 2009

Thank you all for the amusement. I have been asking my friends and none of us know what the two tubs are supposed to mean. I too was thinking maybe it’s two scrotums – but you have all brought to light the other possibilities that I had previously missed.

The first ones of them in tubs facing the ocean were dumb then they went into a back yard in their side-by-side tubs. I only wondered about the bug bites they were going to get from that romantic interlude.

While I actually laugh at Smiling Santa Bob and the short haired lady who’s first in line, I do think they should not be on tv during children’s watching hours. They don’t need to see this yet. Let them have their childhood uninterrupted with future fears….
#25 Chet
August 18, 2009

I think the tubs in the commercials are meant to do exactly what it has done here in the site. The product name has been mentioned over 20 times. Everytime you see the commercial you take notice and remember the product no matter haw stupid it is. Are you old enough to remember the Parks Sausage radio commercial? Everyone hated hearing that kid calling for “More Parks Sausages Mom”, but in the supermarket you noticed the Parks Sausage.
Great marketing Cialis.
#26 Stan
September 1, 2009

I know someone who worked in marketing at Eli Lilly when those ads came out, and he explained it to me. Mike (#4) has it exactly right: it’s intended to show that there’s no hurry; they have all weekend.
#27 Merr
September 15, 2009

Stan (#26 above) would somewhat tell the story but, does this seem to say that we are back in the 50′s and the two parties can’t be in the same bathtub nekked? Even Lucy and Desi had to occupy single beds even though they were married in real life and even when Lucy was pregnant with Desi, Jr. Thus, I can’t figure out the 2 bathtubs, but I think #4 and #26 have shown some light on a solution to my quandry.
#28 vegas
September 18, 2009

Each bathtub is representative of a testicle. When the tubs are full, the couple is together enjoying each others company in a natural setting (like perfect lovemaking).

When the tubs are empty (maybe a two-fer that doesn’t last four hours)- the product is no longer necessary.

Then it’s time to play golf (or take a nap).
#29 patrick
September 21, 2009

I always thought that they had to do an ice-bath after Indian burns from a night of continuous, drug-induced debauchery.
#30 rphpat
October 1, 2009

I don’t know what the tubs are for either but when Cialis used to sponsor The Western Open Golf Tournament I cheered for Woody Austin to win it.
#31 Lenny
October 25, 2009

Ya know, if you get 4 hour morning wood in the late afternoom or evening, tell your wife to have her best friend come by. Then you can have 3 bathtubs to ponder!

Len
#32 Wendell Eaton
November 17, 2009

There’s a lot going on with the bathtubs. First, negative space between them suggest male genitalia. The tubs themselves look to me to be female underwear, with the penis between the legs. The tubs’ legs suggest garter belt attachments. The tubs convey the ideas of nudity and wetness, and two beds. Why two? Because the couple isn’t married to each other. Anyway, that’s my take. There may well be other stuff going on, as well.
#33 Wendell Eaton
November 17, 2009

Here’s another thought. Why is this drug called Cialis? Think about it. See Alice. Cialis.
#34 kathy hapgood
November 20, 2009

The ad it just dumb. Maybe the ad agency is related to the drug company. Why else would you use such a stupid ad. If you have ED, I don’t think you would purchase Cialis because of two bathtubs. I will make one point, we have all seen the comercial and remember it.
#35 Leo
December 3, 2009

I’ve always wondered at the significance of the tubs myself, however I have never gone into the deep esoseric maenings of the previous blogg. I finally came to the conclusion that they are the ‘Politically Correct’ version of the traditional cigarette after sex.
#36 Margaret
January 16, 2010

So here’s the thing … if the point is indeed that they have all day, as Stan indicated, then why does the current ad campaign ask, “Time to get out of those tubs?” as if it’s a bad thing? I am so perplexed! Please, someone offer some answers!
#37 Cate
January 16, 2010

The tubs may be intended to indicate lack of urgency, as Stan says the company wanted, but I see substitutability and casual hookup . . . ‘options’ being a double entendre. Never trust a focus group . . .
#38 Wayne
January 16, 2010

When asked why I thought there were tubs in the ad; I said it was because of the comedian Red Fox clip that you can watch on the You Tube link below… “You’ve got to wash your ass”
It’s very funny and true…. watch the second half of this clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCCvH-R3h8I&feature=PlayList&p=1C3D7A41A8042368&index=
#39 AngryReptileKeeper
February 9, 2010

“Mommy didn’t breast feed them long enough, or they’ve been emasculated by a stronger woman for all of their adult lives!”

Any guy who says things like this shows himself for what he is: A pathetic, insecure twat.
#40 judy
February 21, 2010

I had to go sit in the tub after reading #9 cause peed pants laughing so hard.
#41 Slack
February 26, 2010

The whole thing would make perfect sense if they just put the couple in the SAME tub. Why don’t they just cut to the chase and do it and let the Puritans scream.
#42 Lynne
March 7, 2010

I think my husband has figured it out, Cialis is actually used to prevent wrinkling in the bath tub !!!
#43 Dr Denise
March 27, 2010

I think Wendell is onto something so to speak.
The space between the tubs could be phallic, and it leads into ocean or valley, which are symbols for female genitalia.

The tubs could be thighs.

All I know is I find this ad incredibly embarrassing and cannot watch it to save my life. Odd.
#44 Exasperated
April 4, 2010

The bathtubs are so stupid, they make me annoyed with the product (advertisers, are you listening?). There are hot and cold taps on the bathtubs, but there could not possibly be any plumbing on the freakin’ beach. Who puts the water into those bathtubs, and who put the bathtubs there? They must be for one-time use, because a bathtub full of water would be heavy for anyone to empty out. The ads are fairly realistic and get a message across, up to that point. Then they show the cheesy bathtubs and make the whole thing ridiculous.
#45 Rick
April 24, 2010

The explanation for the separate bathtubs is simple. It’s (almost) TRUTH IN ADVERTISING! The old dude is literally all washed up. For him, sexual excitement requires long hours of lonely effort ..er.. prostrate in the bathtub. And because he’s impotent, his long-suffering wife is obliged to find satisfaction by herself as well. With Cialis, the two old farts can fantasize that they’re sharing their solitary thrills.

Without Cialis? Well, the old dude would still be all by himself lying flaccid in his bathtub, but his wife would be sharing a shower with some young stud standing .. er .. erect in the shower! See?
#46 Piff
May 3, 2010

The only problem with the ‘we don’t have to rush’ theory (Cialis working for 36 hours vs. Viagra’s 4) is the fact that there is a daily Viagra men can take. Thus no need to rush with either product.

So it doesn’t really make sense I guess? I think it’s just another example of ridiculous advertising so consumers remember the product Ie: Lewis Black’s rant on Superbowl commercials and how they don’t make sense: ‘Two rabbits are sitting on a log, one goes home and hangs himself. Buy a bike’. You -would- remember that ad, just for the fact that it was so bizarre.
#47 mort
May 17, 2010

Its actually the old geezers rehydrating there dried out gonads so they can get aroused. a sad admission of their mummified privates.
#48 JS
May 23, 2010

Simple. You notice it, it bugs you and maybe, you dont want to be the couple separated so you unconsciously want to “correct” that in your own life. So the drug is positioned as an intimacy thing rather than a sexual thing. All subliminal of course.
#49 tom
June 2, 2010

Does anyone know where I could buy two inflatible bathtubs like the Cialis ones. What a great party gag they would make.
#50 donna
June 6, 2010

This is the only blog I visit regularly – whenever I need a good laugh this always does the trick. Thanks for all the great “insights.”
#51 Korrigan
July 17, 2010

I hate those Cialis commericals The bathtubs at the end drodrive me crazy. I am still lost on the significance of the seperate tubs. It seems to me that both should be sharing a hot tub or hammock than in seperate tubs. O’Well who am I to question an AD MAN!
#52 teresa h
July 19, 2010

I’m so glad to see that I’m not the only person with a problem with those tubs.Thanks for the laughs.
#53 Helen
July 27, 2010

Me and my husband miss “Bob”. Those were some very funny commercials.
#54 Curtis
July 27, 2010

I think the tubs are meant to convey intimacy without being too racy about their hot sex time drug.
#55 den
August 1, 2010

Bottom line for me…. I am 58, still able on my own, but getting ever closer to needing something. It won’t be anything that requires me to buy two $1000.00 plus bathtubs and move them everywhere my wife and I go!!!! I kinda wonder if the ads are not directed toward older woman…. your husband can take his Cialis and do whatever he wants in his own bath tub!!!!
#56 Special K
August 11, 2010

I love the bathtubs. This is not so hard as you think (no pun intended.) After a hot day at the beach, you bring your hose down from the beachhouse and fill up the tubs with refreshing, cool water. When you’re done bathing, you pull the drain plugs. In the meantime, you enjoy a romantic sunset in relaxing tubs on the beach, a delightful pleasure that allows you to feel just unique and hedonistic enough to get aroused and build up anticipation. You don’t want to be in the same tub for three reasons. Once you’re in the same tub, sex is going to happen, and fast, then you’ve missed the whole relaxing-sunset-anticipation and smug-premiere-lifestyle thing, plus you could wind up getting arrested for having sex on the beach, not to mention, realistically, two’s a crowd in a bathtub. It’s just perfect the way it is! (This brings back memories;-)
#57 artiztik
August 14, 2010

The bathtubs are filled with crushed ice. He is too embarrassed to seek the recommended medical attention to terminate a 4 hour woody, and she is chillin’ after 4 hours of crazy monkey lovin’.
#58 szebaimei
August 25, 2010

Someone should try using paper maché bathtubs as a Halloween costume for a couple! Now that’s scary …
#59 Dane Hooper
August 29, 2010

The legally required CAUTION is there strongest advertising theme. Who would not want to have an erection that lasted even ONE HOUR?
#60 Lisa
September 9, 2010

I found out what the bath tubs were all about: Just thought I would provide you with the research I came across!

Eli Lilly produced three of the top four most-recalled (viewed) prescription drug and vaccine ads on TV last year, according to new research released today (2009) by The Nielsen Company. An execution for Eli’s anti-depressant drug Cymbalta was the second most-recalled pharmaceutical ad of 2008 with a creative extending from its “Depression Hurts” campaign.

According to Nielsen IAG, the Cialis ad, has been running in essentially the same form for years, and was the Top Pharmaceutical Ad in 2008. According to Cialis brand manager, when asked why the ads used the ostensibly bizarre imagery of a couple in separate baths, outdoors (imagery still being recycled in the current campaign).

He replied that Lilly surveyed couples to find out what kind of relaxed moments they enjoyed that might lead to lovemaking. The answers came back: in the bath, at the beach, looking at a mountain view. So they shot an ad and featured all of the above – a couple in the bath looking at a beach from a mountaintop.

The ad was recalled (viewed) by viewers at a rate 55% greater than the average based on all new prescription drug ads launched over the past year. The erectile dysfunction drug ad features a couple interrupted from an intimate moment by a surprise visit from their daughter.
Hope that answered a few questions!
#61 rockhazard
September 10, 2010

All of you are discussing Cialis, even if it is filtered through a discussion about weird bathing rituals. That is the purpose behind the separate tubs. A single tub never would have provoked this much free advertising.
#62 John
September 13, 2010

Everyone please check out the last scene of the newest commercial for Petco pet product stores; seems like bathtubs are catching on in the dog world. Lets hope such nonsense soon disappears from the people world.
#63 enigma
September 19, 2010

There is no such thing as bad publicity, when it comes to selling products. Keep the name of the product out there, period. It doesn’t matter if all people are talking about is how dumb your ads are. They are remembering your ads, period. That’s how it works.

With that said, why are we talking about bathing, at all? A bath is more relaxing than a shower. I get that, but so what? Who decided that a slow, relaxing, separate-but-together bath was an acceptable visual for Cialis, and why? Why not a hot-tub, if it JUST HAS to be naked people sitting in water?

Someone above suggested that a nice, slow bath after having been at the beach all day is an acceptable expression of relaxation and would be a natural prelude to sex. But what about the tubs overlooking the valley? Or the vineyard? Or the mountains? Cleaning the beach salt off your body is one thing. What does it have to do with the other scenarios Cialis uses in their ads?

The bottom line, for me: these Cialis ads are simply ridiculous, but it just doesn’t matter in the end. If I owned the company, I’d want to build a reputation by having clever, top-notch ads that people talk about in admiring tones, but hey, to each his own. Still, as long as they didn’t forget the name of my company or product, then the ads would be “successful”, either way.
#64 evan
September 21, 2010

After using Cialis, he will produce enough seamen to fill the 2 bathtubs.
#65 Jack Krooss
October 5, 2010

I believe that this concept may have been stolen from a Corrs music video circa 1998. Cialis was introduced in 1998. I do not know when they started the stupid bathtub ads, but check out this video at 2:28.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEyq8u_VS0w&feature=related
#66 Brensgrrl
October 5, 2010

The bathtubs are stupid enough, but I REALLY hate the new Cialis commercial about “everyday moments turning romantic.” Maybe some men think that their wives should get so turned on by a mere touch that she leaves her mountain of chores to make love, but that simply does not happen in real life. At least not to responsible women who have to work outside the home. Leave the food unattended on the stove to fool around; nothing will happen! Forget about the mountain of laundry that must be done; spend five hours in bed and go back to the laundry at midnight! Stupid! Perhaps this works for kept Trophy Wives who have servants to help around the house, but it is an insult to real women.
Worse yet, it puts unrealistic notions in the minds of some husbands. The stupidity of the Cialis commercial goes way beyond the bathtubs.
#67 revere
October 5, 2010

Brennsgrrl: LOL. I read your comment to Mrs. R. Every time that commercial comes on she screams at the screen: “Finish the painting!” It drives her crazy. “Look. The water is overflowing!” She enjoyed your comment. A lot. It was a very romantic moment.
#68 Marc
October 14, 2010

Revere, do you still answer questions about health, history, etc. every once in a while in comments? Or is the blog thing completely over?
#69 Marc
October 14, 2010

Marc: Blogging is over. I do respond if it doesn’t take any work (this is an example), but I don’t do any extra hunting or researching. I have responded to people who found the site via a Google search and didn’t know the blog is closed, but you aren’t in that category. So I regret to say I’m done with it. It was eating me alive and I am finally catching up with the journal I edit and my own work, which is going well and is extremely satisfying. I’m really a scientist, not a blogger. Hope all is going well with you and your mathematics. I get to do more of it myself, now that blogging is in the rear view mirror.
#70 Marc
October 15, 2010

@Revere: I wanted to know your take on the whole soy milk vs. dairy milk debate. I see doctors arguing both ways about it. Really don’t know what to believe. Also hope all is well with you and that you’re enjoying the journalism business. Is it an epidemiology or statistics journal?
#71 revere
October 15, 2010

Marc: The milk thing would be too much work and I don’t follow it, I’m afraid. The journal is a peer reviewed journal in the specialty of environmental health.
#72 Marc
October 17, 2010

@Revere: Do you still follow other blogs though? Since we discovered SB, me and Alex need our daily dose of Pharyngula and Respectful Insolence. Too bad some other good bloggers left because of the Pepsi thing (PalMD, etc).

On a different topic, since without you I wouldn’t have seen the video of the Shministim, I feel like I am in your debt. Here’s a video of the famous late historian Tony Judt discussing Israel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTc6LBtWEg0

RIP Tony.
#73 Bob
October 17, 2010

Old claw foot tubs make an easy poor man’s hot tub. Just fill them with hot agua. So maybe think about how nice you would feel if you could soak in your own tub instead of having someone elses toes cramed in your face. That kinda puts the horney back in the equation.
#74 Michael_J
October 30, 2010

OK. I read all the responses….. and I STILL don’t know what the stupid baths tubs are about.

If they had just used ONE bath tub, it would all make sense. Maybe the guy who came up with the stupid two-tub idea was half was through his four hour woody and wasn’t thinking coherently?
#75 Marc
October 31, 2010

@Revere: If you have time and still read this blog, check out the website Breaking The Silence. It’s by former IDF soldiers and their experiences in Gaza. It’s got a special section on Cast Lead. Finkelstein used many quotes from the website for a presentation he gave recently at a university in Montreal.

http://www.shovrimshtika.org/index_e.asp
#76 LMNOP
November 6, 2010

They’re soothing and soakin their hoohaaah parts in Epsom salt water which are raw from the sheer animal friction of all the unbridled hedonistic fornications they just finished because they don’t have that bothersome E.D. anymore . THATS. WHY. the bathtub on the bluff in the forest [btw-they have to be in the forest cuz the neighbors have called the cops on them for animal abuse charges.. Ward, you're being a little hard on the Beaver]. Thank you Cialis! I get it now! Altho not as obvious as the pitching tent reference they’ve recently added to the adds, it’s still worthy of a golf clap.
#77 David Hanna
November 12, 2010

I’ve never felt the moment is right when my wife has a paint- brush in her hand and then watch my house turn into a nature- scape. WTF? One other thing since we are seniors, I think we would have the “Premier Care” walk-in tubs installed near the camp-fire so we could have easy access to each other! (I hope my medicare pays for them along with the scooters to get me out to the tubs).
#78 selena_pints
November 19, 2010

I love tubs!!!!!
#79 michael
November 29, 2010

It all makes sense now. Sitting in the bath tubs suggests they have all the time in the World to get busy. Of course I don’t know what the hell they’re waiting for. If the guys really been having trouble getting it up, you’d think he’d be running home from the pharmacy downing pills ready to go balls deep as soon as humanly possible…unless that’s his wife…As for the TWO bath tubs, that is because we live in a puritanical, tight ass society which can’t handle sex. If they sat in one bath tub it would be too risque for American TV. Although some people suggest the negative space looks like a dick, Cialis doesn’t have the balls to go with one bath tub. In Europe they probably scrap the bath tub and show people fucking on the beach.
Christ, some people in this string are STILL worried about their stupid, naieve kids seeing a commercial which deals with sex. If your kids are old enough to figure these commercials out and ask questions, their old enough to hear the answers. Get over it people.
#80 shemp
December 13, 2010

the hell with the bathtubs: have you noticed that right at the beginning of the commercial there’s a TENT being miraculously pitched? very symbolic…
#81 Annie
December 21, 2010

It doesn’t matter to me if there are two tubs or one — I feel the same way. I take things literally and find it ridiculous to have bath tubs where they are not hooked up to plumbing. I’ll be damned if you would ever find me in a bathtub on the beach or in a forest or anyplace except a bathroom where you would have only one. IF my husband and I needed Cialis, I would not use it because of these stupid commercials. I agree with 66 about the “romantic moments” which are much more likely to happen to a man.
#82 LeMoyne
December 22, 2010

As George discovered, showers lead to “shrinkage.” Tubbies, on the other hand,lead to…..
#83 rusty
January 24, 2011

cialis works so well, dude’s tub is filled to the brim w/ jizz. wife says, “i’m not gettin’ in there… pearl necklace is one thing, pearl body cast is another… stayin’ in my own tub, horndog… will just hold your hand & watch the sunset till that tub-o-tadpoles is flushed”
#84 kj
February 17, 2011

Separate but together. Enough said!
#85 CJ
March 3, 2011

I noticed that no one said that it implies that having sex is dirty so you must run to the bath to be cleansed.
#86 wendy jones
April 8, 2011

What has Cialis said about this? I think it’s totally assinine.
#87 TOm
April 11, 2011

After reading all the posts, I believe that the “what’s the hurry” signifier is correct. Better be real about that 36 hours….sme MF’ers would be stuck solid in those tubs.
Maybe the implication goes further as the separate tub is tantalizing and both parties get in the mood, a “little wet” and she can yank him up out of that tub by his wooden wanker. Would work for a gay couple as well.
#88 Lynn Rogers
May 3, 2011

enough with couple in separate tubs but they make love or is it the after effects
#89 Sally
May 27, 2011

I love the humor shown in the responses, and have been asking the same question myself (that’s how I found this site). I guess by the number of people scratching their heads over it and posting means it is a successful advertising campaign. Look how they got us all to talk about it!
#90 frank horne
May 30, 2011

I have the real answer to the bath tub issue. They are cooling of after a hot night.
#91 nemuritoare
July 28, 2011

You’ve all got it wrong…. psychologically, sexuality is subliminally represented by water… hence being in separate bathtubs, they’re each immersed in their sexuality
#92 dave
August 16, 2011

Sometimes a bathtub is just a bathtub. I see no water representing sexuality here. These are crazy folks! They’ve paid for their pills and are now tripping around in the emptiness of their lost love lives.
#93 Curt
August 17, 2011

I think it stands for “Bathing in the Afterglow”
#94 BalackObama
August 28, 2011

Thanx for the laffs…
#95 Clark
November 7, 2011

These ads remind me of the store in a Jewish neighborhood that had watches on display. A guy goes in to buy a watch and the old Rabbi says he doesn’t sell watches he does circumcisions, Why do you put watches in the window then, the man asks.

“What would you put in the window ” replies the Rabbi.

A bathtub is the same answer.
#96 bill
December 12, 2011

I heard Viagra and Jack Daniel’s company merged. Now you can pour yourself a stiff one !
#97 Lisa
December 22, 2011

I think it means they are washing up before they get busy…
#98 Larry Matthews
April 9, 2012

I’m still waiting for the Ex-Lax “Twin Outhouses” commercial. It makes more sense.
#99 Bill
April 17, 2012

Lisa, I think it means they’re washing up because they ‘have been’ busy…
#100 Cindy Sneddon
May 5, 2012

I think the bathtubs are stupid, myself. If you want to get the point across for taking it slow,put them in a hottub away from the rivers and lakes. Setting bathtubs next to the water is really crazy. It never works for me. when I want it I do not need to take a bath or play in water to get excitedor do all that stuff you show in the ads. I am 65 and never needed all that crap to get excited or want my husband. All he has to do is give me a kiss and we are ready.
#101 jeff
September 7, 2012

Romance? Bathtub is actually quite an awkward enclosure for such a thing in reality. More Big Pharma Fiction.
#102 Sandra
California
October 14, 2012

Ha ha ha, I can never remember which drug the “tubs” plug. So I like the robot people who need meds for bladder control. Or the restless leg drug commercial. I’m pretty sure this is why I rarely watch commercial TV.
#103 Barbara
November 4, 2012

These ads always drive me crazy…. there is water flooding the kitchen, separate bathtubs outside, etc. I really do not get it. It is enough to put me out of the mood! In fact, it does!
#104 Vanessa Mumford
December 28, 2012

I guess they use these because they can’t show nakedness on tv that is why they use these tubs to cover up their body, i guess!
#105 Batt
01301
January 7, 2013

After reading all these explainartions regarding the significance of the bathtubs in the Cyalis ads, I’m sorry I even bothered to ask. Still don’t know !!!!! LOL
#106 Jeannie from MD
Maryland, USA
January 17, 2013

Cialis is tadalafil or as I like to call it TA-DA-lafil.