Zestra Blog » Press

Zestra Founders with Jane Hansen on NBC

Karen — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:51:35 +0000

Semprae founders Mary Wallace Jaensch and Rachel Braun Scherl were on NBC with Jane Hansen on January 10, 2011.

Help us end the double-standard in advertising.

Karen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:02:01 +0000

Nightline, the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the View and Good Morning America have all run stories about the TV Double-Standard: that sexual products for men are allowed on TV but Zestra for women can’t get air time.

So we’re doing something about it! Please join us and sign our petition for equal advertising rights for women!

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

LOL-Funny, Real-Life Zestra Story

Karen — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:51:40 +0000

A customer wrote in with this hysterical real-life Zestra story (where a husband learned why he should never have run to WalMart without telling his wife!) So we made it a video. Enjoy…and we’d love it if you’d share!

Zestra on Nightline

Karen — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 14:01:48 +0000

Zestra was featured on Nightline — watch Ashley Banfield’s report: “Are Advertisers Biased Against Women’s Sex Drive? Female Sexual Arousal Product Zestra Struggles To Get Ad Space.”

The Big ‘O’ – Zestra on Dr. Oz’s Orgasm Show

Karen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:56:52 +0000

On the Dr. Oz show ‘How to Reclaim Your Orgasm after 40,’ Dr. Laura Berman highlights Zestra as a scientifically proven herbal oil that increases sensation, arousal and ability to orgasm.

Zestra in the New York Times

admin — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:05:09 +0000

Generation B
In Search of Their Own Elixir of Love

Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Photo by Dorling Kindsersley/Getty Images

By Michael Winerip
Published: November 27, 2009

PHILADELPHIA
CHARLOTTE McLAUGHLIN was married for 35 wonderful years. “He was the only partner in my life, a terrific guy,” said Ms. McLaughlin, a retired cosmetics consultant. But in 2001, her husband, Bill, died of heart disease at 60, and to help cope with the loss, Ms. McLaughlin, who was in her 50s, began taking an antidepressant.

Then in 2004 she met another terrific guy, a 65-year-old widower named Sanford, and felt an attraction, though she worried about keeping up. Antidepressants can inhibit sex drive. “I was afraid of pain at my age, after three or four years of not having … you know, relations.”

So Ms. McLaughlin did what a lot of middle-aged women here do when they are not ready to give up on sex. She visited the Pelvic and Sexual Health Institute, which treats about 200 women a week, mostly from the Philadelphia-New York City corridor, but some from as far away as Canada, South America and Britain. Half the patients seen by the staff of 20 are boomer women. A lot have husbands and boyfriends who’ve been given a recharge via Viagra or even a penile implant, and, as Ms. McLaughlin said, “We need something, too.”

Read the full article:

In Search of Their Own Elixir of Love
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/fashion/29genb.html?pagewanted=all

Zestra Featured in Forbes!

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:29:35 +0000

Seeking satisfaction: Rachel Braun Scherl and Mary Jaensch have raised millions to revive women’s sex lives.

Passion Play by Maureen Farrell, 08.05.09, 06:00 PM EDTForbes Magazine dated August 24, 2009

Two ex-consultants bring a bankrupt ointment maker into America’s bedrooms.

Pharmacologist Martin Crosby spent much of the 1990s developing a female counterpart to Viagra. Crosby had made a pile with patents on two pain-management drugs, for patients with terminal cancer and multiple sclerosis. Five years and $1 million later he came up with Zestra–a topical potion, made from evening primrose and borage oils and two extracts, that enhances sexual stimulation. Sensing a hit, Younis Zubchevich, a New York investment banker, agreed to help Crosby bring Zestra to the frustrated masses. He rustled $3 million and hired a mostly male management squad; in 2006 he raised $6 million more in a convertible-preferred stock deal that valued the Charleston, S.C. company, called Zestra Laboratories, at $35 million.

The pleasure didn’t last. In 2006 Zestra Labs lost $4.8 million on $3.2 million in sales. Two prime-time television ad campaigns dug a deeper hole–as did a $2 million, 200-patient study commissioned by the company in 2005 to give the ointment a dose of credibility with medical professionals. (The study concluded that the stuff performed better than a placebo, and increased “desire, arousal and satisfaction” in seven out of ten women.) Walgreens, CVS, Wal-Mart and Kmart made room on their shelves for the over-the-counter preparation but charged hefty placement fees. As the red ink flowed, Crosby fired Zubchevich, who filed a suit (later dropped) for $200,000 in back pay. When a $15 million round of new funding never materialized, Zestra filed for Chapter 11 in 2008.

To the rescue come Mary Jaensch, 57, and Rachel Braun Scherl, 44, owners of the Spark Group, consultants to companies like Wyeth ( WYE – news – people ) selling o-t-c products such as Advil and Robitussin. All Zestra needs, they figure, is a little marketing and management, not to mention some cash. “There are a lot of women out there who are not necessarily sexually satisfied who would never think about bringing it up with their doctor or taking a [prescription] drug for it,” says Scherl.

Read Full Article >>

Zestra on Today Show!

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:02:26 +0000

Today Show Interview with Dr. Susan Kellogg-Spadt about Zestra.

Tyra talks about Zestra!

admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:45:20 +0000

Tyra talks to Dr. Victoria Zdrok about women taking more control of their sex lives … and that Zestra WORKS.