“One whiff and you’re stiff.”
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has denied that fumes from a Viagra factory in Ringaskiddy in Cork are having an arousing effect on locals, and even dogs, in the village.
In a statement to the Sunday Times, a Pfizer spokesperson said that suggestions of the impact of the fumes in the village, or “Viagra in the air”, is just an “amusing” myth.
“Our manufacturing processes have always been highly sophisticated as well as highly regulated,” the spokesperson said.
The statement from Pfizer comes as the drug is about to be made available over the counter in the UK, but according to some locals quoted in The Sunday Times, some people in Ringaskiddy haven’t even had to take Viagra to feel its effects.
“One whiff and you’re stiff,” said Debbie O’Grady, who works in the Ferry Boat Inn in the town.
“We’ve been getting the love fumes for years now for free,” added Debbie’s mother, Sadie.
“It’s amazing the number of people who come to this village, perhaps out of curiosity, and then never leave.
“They settle down here. As they say, there’s something in the air — not that we need it, of course. But for some fellas with problems in that department it can be a blessing.”
Another local, Fiona Toomey, who once worked as cleaner in the Viagra factory, said that the fumes are even having an effect on dogs in the town.
“Even the dogs here have been known to walk around in a state of sexual excitement,” she said.
“I think that Viagra must have got into the water supply. I’m convinced that’s what happened at the very beginning before they were so closely regulated.”
An 18-year old Ringaskiddy native, meanwhile, a nephew of Sadie O’Grady, denied that the fumes have had any impact on him, in a personal capacity at least.
“I’d probably need something that has the opposite effect,” he said.
You can read the full story in The Sunday Times
here (subscription required).
