The reason behind Smiling Bob's wide grin

You know the ads: a grinning man named Bob who takes the 'natural male enhancement' drug

We may live in a divided nation, but there is one man with the charisma to bring us together. "Smiling Bob," pitchman for the herbal supplement Enzyte, is destined to annoy us all. His face, frozen in a wide smile, gets more airtime than Paris Hilton. According to the ubiquitous television ads, he owes his perma-grin to Enzyte, a pill that delivers "natural male enhancement." The TV spots never explicitly say what "natural male enhancement" means, but the golf clubs and hoses he's always clutching give us a clue. (Presumably, someone decided that a giant cigar wouldn't strike the right tone of subtlety.)

The ads have evidently worked, says Dr. Mark Moyad, a urologist and the director of complementary and alternative medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center. "Patients ask about Enzyte all the time," he says. Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, the Cincinnati-based company that makes and distributes Enzyte, says more than 3 million people have already tried the product.

According to the label, Enzyte is an herbal grab-bag featuring, among other things, Korean red ginseng, Ginkgo biloba, Tribulus terrestris (a.k.a. puncture vine) and -- this is true -- horny goat weed (Epimedium). It also contains less-exotic ingredients such as niacin, copper and zinc.

Enzyte is sold at drugstores everywhere, as well as over the Internet. A one-month supply costs about $50.

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