A Little Snip For Man Who Has Everything

Doctor Advertising Vasectomy Gift Certificates

OMAHA, Neb. -- As you're out shopping this holiday season, you may be wondering what to get that guy who has everything, including all the children he wants.

How about a vasectomy gift certificate?

Ads are running in magazines, on the radio and at the movies in Omaha. Dr. Stewart Sloan, of Urology Specialists, said his ads make light of a tense situation.

"It lightens up the situation. (When) people think about any operation, or where they're going to see the doctor, they're already nervous," Sloan said.

One of the least racy ads says, "Thanks to Dr. Sloan, we don't have to worry about getting pregnant. That vasectomy was the best gift you ever gave me."

Another goes farther, saying, "Oh Marsha! We've got to slow down."

"I hate to think of it as sex sells, but when you're doing a vasectomy, it has a sexual content," said Sloan.

Sloan said the promotion is working. The ads have been running only a few weeks, but already he's seen a spike in business.

"It got my attention," said Lee Gillespie, a patient of Sloan's. "I was laughing and about drove off the side of the road."

Gillespie made his appointment the day he heard the ad. He plans to get a gift certificate for his brother-in-law.

"He'll get a good charge out of it, and his wife will probably thank me," said Gillespie, who describes the certificate as the "gift that keeps on giving."

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