Thursday, July 19, 2007

Networks say "No" to Trojan ads

Controversy over a new advertising campaign by Trojan, the condom maker, has trickled down to the local level, with television stations in Pittsburgh roundly refusing to show it, and stations in Seattle giving it the green light.
When Trojan introduced the condom commercial last month, it was rejected as national advertising by both CBS and Fox. Fox said it objected to the message that condoms can prevent pregnancy, while CBS said it was not “appropriate,” drawing a firestorm of criticism from public health advocates and bloggers.
But Trojan, which is owned by Church & Dwight, was in for more unhappy surprises last week. Local affiliates in Pittsburgh for ABC and NBC, two networks that had agreed to run the ad nationally, also snubbed it.

read more Digg story


This is an absolute disgrace. These networks promote sex every day on their shows but refuse to show ads aimed at promoting safe sex. The level of hypocrisy is beyond comprehension. The fact that Fox "objected to the message that condoms can prevent pregnancy" is absurd. Condoms are extremely effective at preventing pregnancy just as a seatbelt is in preventing a death in a car accident or a helmet when riding a bike. No one objects when you see seatbelt ads. Why should CBS find the ads inappropriate? They show ads for drugs aimed at treating erectile disfunction in men. Don't these promote sex more than a condom ad? A condom ad is merely encouraging safe sex, not telling you to engage in it. What about sexually transmitted infections? Condoms are extremely useful in preventing those.

Does this country really want to send the message that it promotes unsafe sex? It would create more unwanted children and sicken the whole population. The US would turn into Madagascar.

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