Pfizer's patent of Viagra in China expired in Oct. 2014. (Photo : Wikimedia)
For an initial investment of 4,000 yuan ($608) to buy online radio equipment, it could 2,000 times return in three months through advertising fees. However, the only catch is it is an illegal venture twice over. Taobao.com has 622 shops which sell radio equipment online.
First, it involves advertising counterfeit Viagra. Second, the erectile dysfunction advertising is done over unlicensed radio stations that are just set up on the top floors of tall buildings in Beijing. But the advertisements also interfere with aviation communication, placing at risk the lives of air travelers. That’s because the radio frequencies they use are close to those used by civil aviation.
Because the illegal business – which earned a gang 800,000 yuan in just three months as advertising fees – has been the subject of several complaints, the Chinese government has launched a crackdown on the operations of the illegal broadcasters. They are no longer confined to the capital city but also found in Chongqing, Harbin and Heilongjiang Provinces where radio management authorities, based in Beijing, have arrested since March 2014 seven suspects and confiscated more than 50 sets of pirate radio equipment, reported Global Times.
The advertisements, which the illegal operators solicit from manufacturers of fake Viagra, promise male radio listeners not only lasting longer in bed but also longer penises bigger than the average length of an Asian male of 15 centimeters.
It is not just ED pills that the illegal broadcasters advertise but also other miracle pills that claim to cure any ailment. To entice listeners to immediately order the fake medication, the advertiser, like a man who goes by the name Teacher Meng, entices them to buy now for 840 yuan while the price is low because the following day, the price would jump to 3,440 yuan. Fake testimonies of patients who were allegedly healed are aired as phoned-in calls.
However, because of the illegal nature of the operations, the station’s name and hotline numbers are not aired. Instead, a sales number is shared, and the person who answers calls say that the product is not available in regular stores and buyers could pay for the drugs upon delivery.
The real Viagra – the most counterfeited drug in the world - sells for 50 to 70 yuan per dosage in China which discourages the estimated 30 to 40 percent of ED patients from buying the drug. However, hope for Chinese men, who could not rise to the occasion, looms because of the expiration of Viagra’s patent in China.
If generic Viagra, or sildenafil citrate, would be available in the market, it would lower the cost of the ED medication by 30 to 50 percent. Bringing down its price could result in tripling of sales from the estimated 1.7 billion yuan in 2013 up to 5 billion yuan ($810 million) y 2017, according to an estimate by Citigroup, reported CNBC. This would likely also result in fewer business for the illegal broadcasters and manufacturers of fake medicine – a more effective strategy than police raids on pirate broadcasters.
