This year marks the 100th anniversary of the great war which devastated much of Europe. One of the most important events of the year will be the revival of the Viagra brand, which was originally created to aid men during wartime. To celebrate this special occasion, Pfizer has released new images of what the iconic brand’s 2015 model looks like.
The four-leaf clover design, which is featured on every bottle of Viagra, has been updated to feature a fresh green leaf in the center. Along with the leaves, the branding prominently features the classic blue box that houses the drug’s unique active ingredient, sildenafil.
The iconic packaging has not changed much since its inception in 1923, which is remarkable considering that it has recently been through three major redesigns to improve the appearance of the bottle. The most recent change brought about by designer Vivienne Westwood featured an orange-flavored twist to the iconic blue design.
The new model of Viagra, which will be sold alongside the existing product and is scheduled to hit pharmacies in early 2016, is longer and wider than its predecessors. The main difference is in the size of the bottle – it is now 43% larger than before. This allows Pfizer to fit more sildenafil into the same space, potentially increasing its potency. While the new Viagra will look familiar to those who’ve previously enjoyed the brand, it will be offered in a slightly larger size than before, so that it is easier to handle for those who might need it occasionally.
The Iconic Design
For those unfamiliar, the “Viagra Model” was first designed in the year 1923. The brand is, in fact, one of the most recognizable pharmaceutical product brands of all time. It was created for the express purpose of aiding men with erectile dysfunction during wartime, when pharmacological therapies were scarce. Pfizer originally produced a prototype of the drug, which they called “Viaridine”.
The name Viagra ultimately derived from the chemical structure of the drug. Even now, there is no other brand that comes close to matching the cultural significance of the iconic blue-boxed Viagra. Millions of men have opened their medicine cabinets to find the little blue pills inside and, since the 1950s, have taken it for granted that they will encounter the iconic brand whenever they need it. The design has even achieved somewhat of a legendary status, appearing on various lists of “the most iconic products.”
The most striking aspect of the original design is, of course, the clover-shaped pill. The four-leaf clover, which represents good luck and fertility among other things, has long been associated with the brand. The shape of the pill is also reminiscent of a compass rose, recalling its original purpose as a guidance pill for men with impotent disorders. The size of the pill relative to the overall size of the bottle, the relatively minuscule dosage, and the presence of nitroglycerin inside, which was used as a delivery system in the pre-WWII days, all contribute to the iconic image of the brand. The brand remains a potent symbol of masculinity and potency to this day. It has been said that the pill’s four leaves represent four elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
The design has gone through numerous minor changes over the years. The most significant improvement, which was made after the Second World War, was the addition of potassium nitrate to the formula. Before that point, nitroglycerin, which is present in most commercial varieties of Viagra, was used as a delivery system for the sildenafil. Potassium nitrate, meanwhile, prevented angina pectoris and helped to lower blood pressure, making it better suited as a cardiac medication.
Pfizer has released new images of what the iconic brand’s 2015 model looks like. As noted, the four-leaf clover design has been updated to feature a leaf in the center instead of the usual four, reflecting the drug’s centennial anniversary. The new product, which will be displayed at retail pharmacies beginning in January 2016, is longer and wider than its predecessors. The main difference is in the size of the bottle – it is now 43% larger than before. This allows Pfizer to fit more sildenafil into the same space, potentially increasing its potency. While the new Viagra will look familiar to those who’ve previously enjoyed the brand, it will be offered in a slightly larger size than before, so that it is easier to handle for those who might need it occasionally.
The Evolution Of The Design
Before we examine the new developments that have occurred in Pfizer’s iconic bottle design, it is important to understand the context in which it was created and the purpose it serves today. We cannot definitively say that any one of these milestones would have been impossible without the other in the grand scheme of things, but the combination has undoubtedly worked to shape modern medicine and the pharmaceutical industry in general. The brand was originally designed for patients with erectile dysfunction, but it has since transitioned to become a widely-used medication for other conditions as well.
Over the past century, the brand has appeared on various lists of “the most iconic products,” most recently being named number seven on BrandZ’s list of top 100 most iconic brands. The list is an assessment of the value and performance of a brand over a 100-year period, taking into account factors such as economic value, media coverage, and innovation.
To learn more, read our in-depth article on the history of the brand here. Now, let’s examine some of the other important milestones in the evolution of the bottle design.
The Evolution Of The Design 1.0
In 1914, at the dawn of the 20th century, a 25-year-old French pharmaceutical student named Pierre Sigart submitted an entry as part of a competition to redesign the iconic blue-boxed bottle of Viagra. His design, which eventually became known as “the Signature bottle,” featured a longer body, a narrower neck, and a squared-off base. Not only did it feature a more minimalist design, but it also had the option of a colorless cap. The new design was meant to be a sign of quality and avoid the use of unnecessary adornments.
The Signature bottle eventually made its way into commercial production in 1923 and was an instant success. Not only did it feature an innovative, albeit minimalistic, design, but it was also easier to read the formula printed on the label. A year later, at the dawn of the next century, Pfizer released a more updated version of the bottle, with rounded corners and a black cap. The next few years would see the release of several more similar redesigns, each one slightly more advanced than the last.
In the meantime, Viagra had become a widely-used medication across Europe, with sales reaching £1.5 million ($2.26 million) in Germany alone. In the midst of the Great Depression, several pharmaceutical companies emerged with a new goal – to help make prescription medications easy for Americans to acquire. Pfizer began producing the drug for export in the United States and, in 1934, unveiled a new bottle that was markedly different from the previous versions. Gone were the round corners, short side wings, and colorless caps – in their place was a new and improved rectangular shape with a black, tinted rubber stopper.
The Evolution Of The Design 2.0
In 1934, Pfizer brought back the four-leaf clover design and updated it to feature an image of a dragon, a nod to their 150th anniversary. They also replaced the rubber stopper in their black-cap bottle with a new screw-on cap, similar to the kind used for ink cartridges. Finally, they added gold accents to the cap and the overall bottle design.
The success of the new bottle design prompted Pfizer to release three additional variations. The first, unveiled in 1937, was modeled after a Coquilles (scallop) d’Agneau (Agneau Coquilles). The second, the “Anthera” model, was based on a hare sculpture by the same name created by the Czech sculptor Alphonse Peter (1886–1938). Finally, in 1939, Pfizer released another variant, which was based on a sculpture named “The Gates” by the British sculptor Barbara Hepworth (1876–1943). The shape of these various bottles has not changed much since their initial creation.