Viatris replaces banned Viagra ads with an art film about intimacy — Pharma GP

In China, direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs is prohibited and sex is a sensitive topic, so Viagra could not advertise at all. Viatris and Ogilvy Shanghai needed a way to build the brand's relevance without a single regulated ad.

Replace the banned ad with an unbranded art film: three real couples in long-exposure intimacy, released on 520, signed only by a blue diamond and 'Make Love Last'.

Ogilvy Shanghai teamed with fine-art photographer Lavender Chang and invited three real couples to reflect on fading passion, then left them alone with a camera; long-exposure film blurred their intimacy into art. The series — 'The Bedroom', 'The Hotel Room', 'The Living Room' — was released online on 520 (May 20, 'I love you' in Mandarin), signed only by Viagra's blue diamond and the words 'Make Love Last'.

350 million impressions, 1.89 million organic conversations and 85.8 million video views with no product claims, plus improved brand favorability among target patients and partners. It won the 2025 Cannes Pharma Lions Grand Prix, a Clio Grand and further Lions, and Chinese audiences called the work 'beautiful', 'moving' and 'brave'.

In China, direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising is prohibited and sex remains a sensitive topic — a double barrier that made conventional promotion of Viagra impossible. Viatris and Ogilvy Shanghai's answer was to stop trying to advertise and instead make art.

Partnering with fine-art photographer Lavender Chang, they invited three real couples to talk honestly about fading passion and intimacy challenges, then left them alone with a camera. Long-exposure film captured their closeness as blurred, dreamlike light — explicit enough to move, subtle enough to pass censorship. The three films, 'The Bedroom', 'The Hotel Room' and 'The Living Room', were released online on 520 (May 20, Mandarin for 'I love you'), with the only brand signals being Viagra's blue diamond and the words 'Make Love Last'.

The campaign reached 350 million impressions, triggered 1.89 million organic conversations and drove 85.8 million video views — despite making no product claims — and improved brand favorability among patients and partners. The Cannes Pharma jury gave it the 2025 Grand Prix, calling the long-exposure technique 'breathtaking subtlety' that turned regulation into creative opportunity.

The regulatory ban was treated as a creative constraint rather than a barrier: the idea could not exist without it.

Long-exposure photography showed intimacy without explicit imagery, so the film passed censorship while staying genuinely moving.

Real couples and candid conversations gave the work authenticity that a scripted pharma ad could never claim.

The blue diamond and 'Make Love Last' signalled the brand without naming it, building association without a single regulated ad.

Releasing on 520 anchored a taboo subject in a culturally sanctioned day of love.

When regulation bans the message, don't smuggle it in — change the medium. An unbranded artistic film can say what a product ad cannot, and earn the conversation instead of buying it.

Make Love Last became a benchmark for advertising sensitive products in restricted markets. It won the 2025 Cannes Pharma Lions Grand Prix, a Clio Grand plus further Clio Lions, and a London International Awards Silver. Viatris reported improved brand favorability and interest in repeating the format as an annual 520 art series, while Chinese audiences and media praised the work as 'beautiful', 'moving' and 'brave' — proof that in a legally restricted category, creativity can win emotional permission.