The Soft Sell; Pitching a new male-impotence drug with romantic images of tender moments.

Byline: Keith Naughton

During the third quarter of the Super Bowl on Sunday, 90 million viewers will get a break from the rough- and-tumble. A languid 60-second commercial will open with a middle-aged couple in side-by-side bathtubs on a mountain bluff, taking in a golden sunset. To the gentle strum of a jazz guitar, the spot slowly cuts to another couple canoodling at a coffeehouse. Then there's the pair riding off in a convertible, wind in their silver hair. Finally, a rugged husband lovingly startles the missus in the kitchen and drags her off for who knows what? It might look like a pitch for a dating service, but what's really for sale is sex. Or, more specifically, a sexual aid: Cialis, the latest impotence drug to take on Viagra. The Super Bowl ad, shown exclusively to NEWSWEEK, is laced with Cialis's biggest selling point--it works for up to 36 hours (the French call it "Le Weekender"). Sure, there's a mention of an unsettling side effect or two, like erections that won't go away, but overall the tone is subtly suggestive. "When the moment is…