Banned Condom Commercials and Legal Issues

Condoms
I assume these are not unfamiliar to you. Should they be advertised? Most networks won’t accept condom ads because they might offend certain audiences. Even where condom ads are okay, there are ethical choices to make about what kind of product demonstration is appropriate. And in what context? One example of context is that people in condom ads usually wear wedding rings. Because even though the biggest market probably lies outside the Marital Bed, the truth about where all those condoms are really going raises some touchy issues. If you were the Creative Director on the Trojans account, is that an ethical issue? Do you show the real truth and take the consequences?

In 1991, Fox Television became the first broadcast TV network in this country to air a paid condom commercial. A decade later, three of the six major networks (CBS, Fox, and NBC) officially allow condom advertising at the network level, although all three limit the times at which such ads can run, and at least one (Fox) prohibits them from focusing on pregnancy prevention. The three other broadcast networks – ABC, UPN and The WB – all have policies in place prohibiting condom advertising at the network level.

Several major cable networks also accept condom advertising, including MTV, Comedy Central, BET, CNN, TNT, USA, and TBS. In addition, local broadcast affiliates in several major markets have accepted condom advertising, including stations affiliated with networks that don’t accept such ads on the national level. On balance, however, the restrictions placed on condom advertising by some networks and local stations, combined with the modest advertising budgets of condom marketers, has kept condom advertising at low to imperceptible levels.

Showed below is, I think one of the most funniest print ads that I have seen. Due to reasons that I do not know of, the commercial was banned in the U.S.

http://www.treehugger.com/culture/10-best-condom-ads-banned-in-the-us.html

If you go to the above link you will see other ads that have been banned.

Durex ‘Get it On’ Ad Features a Condom-Bunny Threesome

Sure to be a banned commercial here in the United States, the Durex condom ad, ‘Get it On’, features three condom-made bunnies having sex. The message of this naughty commercial is that if you wear Durex condoms for protection, you won’t breed like rabbits.

CONDOM ADVERTISING TIMELINE

1960s   The National Association of Broadcasters maintains a voluntary Code of Conduct, part of which includes a ban on ads for hard liquor, fortune tellers, astrology, occult-related products, and contraceptives.

1975 KNTV, San Jose, airs the first condom commercial on TV (for Trojans), despite the NAB Code that bans such ads.

1979 The NAB Code is dropped in the face of an antitrust lawsuit by the Justice Department. 1984 Independent Los Angeles station KCOP carries a Trojan condom ad.

1985 ESPN airs an Ansell ad for LifeStyles condoms, but later imposes limits on the advertising, which is then withdrawn.

1986 ABC airs a Public Service Announcement (PSA) about condoms as a precaution against AIDS.

1987 With pressure from U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, other major broadcast networks accept PSAs promoting condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS.

1987-89 MTV airs ads for Trojan condoms.  The same ads run on spot TV in the Los Angeles market.

1991 Fox becomes the first broadcast network to air a condom ad at the national level.

1992 Trojan ads air on Atlanta and Houston stations, as well as on the Fox network during a U2 concert.

1993 LifeStyles ads run on independent stations in various cities. Salt Lake City runs without controversy, but in Boston the president of the Catholic League goes on TV to denounce the effort.

1994 MTV airs ads for LifeStyles condoms.  ABC runs new government PSAs promoting condom use.

1996 Ansell contacts 44 local affiliates of ABC, CBS and NBC and 18 accept its LifeStyles condom commercial featuring an animated skeleton.

1997 The Female Health Co. airs a TV ad for the female condom in San Antonio.  The ad, which focuses on disease protection, airs in the late evening for one month. The Food & Drug Administration loosens restrictions on prescription drug advertising on TV.  Pharmacia & Upjohn’s new female contraceptive injection, Depo-Provera, airs spots on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and UPN affiliates in several markets.

1998 Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical unit conducts extensive research of the public, doctors and TV stations and, after running commercials for its Ortho Tri-cyclen birth control pill on local stations, convinces the major networks to accept the ads with a dual message about pregnancy prevention and acne control. For its Trojan condom ads, Carter-Wallace presents extensive research about condom advertising and pregnancy prevention to several broadcast networks. CBS modifies its network ad policy and begins accepting ads for condoms and prescription contraceptives. UPN broadcasts a Trojan ad, but half of its affiliates cover the spot.  The network then officially prohibits condom advertising.Trojan clears a commercial for late-night airing on major ABC, Fox, and CBS affiliates, as well as on MTV and Comedy Central. LifeStyles condom ads run on CBS-owned stations in Chicago and Boston during the latenight “Howard Stern Show.” Ansell claims theirs is the first condom campaign to use a message about “romance rather than disease prevention.”

1999 After agreeing to carry the Ortho Tri-cyclen commercial, NBC modifies its ad policy and begins to accept condom commercials, but limits them to after 11 p.m.  NBC and Fox networks agree to carry Carter-Wallace’s “December 31” Trojan Man ad about the new millennium in late-night slots.  The ad also runs on CBS’s top-ten affiliates, MTV and Comedy Central.

http://www.avert.org/condoms.htm

Lastly, I do not agree with the banning of condom advertisements if there are perimeters that they have to follow like the type of magazine that its in, I would ban then from being in kids magazines, and also on kids television shows, however, things that children learn these days on television is way worse than what they would learn from a condom commercial.

Advertising to children, is it ethical?

Advertising to children, is it Ethical??

            This is very sensitive subject to breach. We see it every day; from children asking for a certain toy that they want from a TV show or a breakfast cereal with cartoon characters on them. It’s funny you don’t hear more people talking about it on TV.

Advertising is a pervasive influence on children and adolescents. Young people view more than 40 000 ads per year on television alone and increasingly are being exposed to advertising on the Internet, in magazines, and in schools. This exposure may contribute significantly to childhood and adolescent obesity, poor nutrition, and alcohol use.

When you ask children what they wanted to do when they grew up. The answer used to be “nurse,” “astronaut” or some other occupation with intrinsic appeal. Today the answer is more likely to be “make money.”

Children and food advertising

In recent years, the food and beverage industry in the US has viewed children and adolescents as a major market force. As a result, children and adolescents are now the target of intense and specialized food marketing and advertising efforts. Food marketers are interested in youth as consumers because of their spending power, their purchasing influence, and as future adult consumers. Multiple techniques and channels are used to reach youth, beginning when they are toddlers, to foster brand-building and influence food product purchase behavior. These food marketing channels include television advertising, in-school marketing, product placements, kids clubs, the Internet, toys and products with brand logos, and youth-targeted promotions, such as cross-selling and tie-ins. Foods marketed to children are predominantly high in sugar and fat, and as such are inconsistent with national dietary recommendations.

McDonald’s

Should McDonald’s be allowed to put toys in their Happy Meals? Obesity in children has tripled in the last 30 years. The American Academic of Pediatrics considers advertising to children illegal since they do not have the cognitive capability to understand deceptive marketing.

You can go to this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6XG86FQ and answer this question…

McDonald’s claim that the Happy Meal does have one healthy option: chicken nuggets, apple dippers, juice and low-fat milk. However, children do not always pick the healthy option. McDonald’s claim that their freedom to advertise is protected under the First Amendment.

o   Including the toy in the Happy Meal is ethical

o   Not sure

o   The toy is deceptive marketing but McDonald’s should be allowed to include a toy

o   The toy is deceptive marketing so McDonald’s should NOT be allowed to include it

o   Other (please specify)________________________________________________

Distribution of types of food in TV advertising targeted to children or teens, 2005

http://cdn.smarterspend.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/10C-Distribution-of-Types-of-Food-in-TV-Advertising-Targeted-to-Children-or-Teens-2007.jpg

Surprisingly I was shocked about this graph not that fact that the candy, cereal, fast food and sodas was so high which is sad,  But the fact that the Fruit Juice percentage was so low. It seems like every time I turn on the TV there is a commercial on fruit juice.

Regulations

Advertisers have always had provisions and regulations placed on them limiting what they can and cannot do. From broadcast to print advertising, the FTC and other regulatory agencies have tried to insure that children are safe from the influencial messages that advertisers send out. Tobacco companies and alcohol companies have recently drawn the most fire from these agencies, for being accused of targeting children and teenagers in thier advertisements. These companies and others have found new ways to to target kids. They are using the next great advertising medium, the information superhighway, the internet. Companies such as Kellog’s cereal company and Hasbro try to get kids to become brand loyal by offering children games to play and contests that they can enter by creating an exciting interactive world where their product logos and trademark characters run the show.

http://www.hasbro.com/

http://www.kibagames.com/Games/Kelloggs/tag

IS IT ETHICAL??

When you examine the evidence you have to make your own conclusions. This issue is one that is very difficult for most people and there is no real solution. It is the way of advertising and advertisers to do many things to make money. Ethics may not enter into the picture in the way we think about it.

The bottom line is that parents have to watch what their children watch and help them be more discerning in what they do. This will make sure that their children understand the value in real things versus quick gratification.

I for one think in the mind of the advertisers that it is ok, on the other hand as a consumer I don’t. I’m kind of contradicting myself. But it’s a touchy subject.

Homosexuality in films

Everywhere you look nowadays, you cannot avoid the topic of homosexuality.  It is in the news, television shows, movies, books, magazines, and as we have most recently seen, in politics.  Being a minority group, homosexuals are viewed very differently by society.  Though many people think there is nothing wrong with being gay, there are many who still believe it is immoral and unnatural.  With all the conflicting views floating around about homosexuals different portrayals and stereotypes can be seen everywhere.

http://www.blogomatic3000.com/2010/08/06/cinemas-got-gay-pride/#.TqxDLfTTLi8

“Brokeback Mountain” is the first movie that I remember watching with homosexuality in it. Here we see two of Hollywood’s greatest young actors playing roles we would never expect and doing so outstandingly. In fact, the film won the best film kiss Oscar – the first between two men (both of whom are straight!)

For those of you who haven’t seen it the film is in 1963 in Wyoming,  two young men, Ennis a ranch hand and Jack an aspiring rodeo bull rider,who are sent to work together herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain, and what had otherwise been anticipated to be a rather uneventful venture, soon turned into a love affair , of lust, and complications that will span through 19 years of their lives.

http://www.delawareliberal.net/2011/04/21/thursday-open-thread-78/

With all of the current media coverage homosexuals are receiving it should come as no surprise that more and more gay characters and gay-themed movies are emerging from Hollywood.  These characters and movies often tend to fully personify the homosexual stereotypes that exist in our society today.  Many gay-themed movies have made their way into the lime-light and gay characters are popping up in dozens of mainstream movies.  By looking closely at these movies and characters we can see the different messages Hollywood is now sending out about gays.  Though homosexual stereotypes are emerging in the movie industry, the stereotypes being generated are extremely different from one another.  The gay-themed movies often create one picture of homosexuals, while mainstream movies tend to paint an entirely different picture. Gays are portrayed in perceivably negative ways in some movies and in others their characteristics are emphasized in a positive light. Mainstream movies, nowadays, often include minor characters that are gay.  With the addition of so many minor, gay characters, endless stereotypes abound in these mainstream movies.  Unfortunately, mainstream movies often focus on the negative stereotypes that have already been generated by society, thereby furthering the impact they have on people’s views towards gays.  The movies focus on surface-level aspects of homosexuals like the way they act, look, and talk.  Most often the movies don’t get into the deeper sides of these characters, thereby sending the message that gays are one dimensional.

http://www.blogomatic3000.com/2010/08/06/cinemas-got-gay-pride/#.TqxDLfTTLi8

More recently the movie “I Love You Phillip Morris” which I watched but I for some reason did not like it at all.

“I Love You Phillip Morris” is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film  based on the 1980s and ’90s real-life story of con artist,  impostor, and multiple prison escapee Steven Russell, played by Jim Carrey. While incarcerated, Russell falls in love with his fellow inmate, Phillip Morris . After Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes from prison four times in order to be reunited with Morris.

http://phillipmorrismovie.net/about

Though these movies focus more on the genuine relationships that gays can share with one another, they also portray gays as more like “normal” people.  The characters are just like normal men except they choose to have relationships with other men rather than women.  Once again we see that they have emotions and feelings that are just as real as heterosexuals. With all the conflicting stereotypes of gays in movies today, it is extremely important that people step back and look at the big picture.  They should view some of the lesser-known gay-themed movies so they are presented with a more real look at homosexuals.  Too often people try to peg homosexuals as definitively acting one way or another, and if we only view movies that perpetuate stereotypes than our personal ideas of homosexual behavior will most likely remain.  Instead, it is important for people to understand that, outside of who they sleep with, gays are no different from everyone else.

http://www.istrategylabs.com/2010/04/facebook-gay-men-and-lesbian-statistics-pakistan-and-washington-dc-standout/

I thought it would be interesting to try to find the percentage of homosexuals in the U.S. in 2010, but then i found this chart on the analysis of sexual preferences for Facebook users in the U.S. The percentage kind of hit me by surprise, I was thinking that the percentage of gays and lesbians would be higher. Take a look and see what you think!!!