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Condom Controversy
From the world of media, this is the most hypocritical thing I’ve heard in a while. The same people who brought you Temptation Island, The O.C. and, yes, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show are now refusing to air new Trojan condom commercials http://trojanevolve.com/.
Two major networks, FOX and CBS, are refusing to air the ads. Why? As a FOX network representative explains: “Contraceptive advertising must stress health-related uses rather than the prevention of pregnancy.” How is this commercial not promoting the health benefits of using condoms? We all know that condoms can be used for both pregnancy prevention and for protection against the transmission of STI’s. In addition, the commercial’s tag-line that appears on-screen reads: “Evolve. Use a condom every time.”
Nevermind that I apparently missed the fact that pregnancy has, according to FOX, ceased to be a “health –related issue". These networks have taken sex to the bank time and time again through their sex-saturated, prime-time programming and have had no qualms about routinely airing sexualized ads for Viagra. Apparently it’s okay to depict sexual content in 77% of primetime shows, so long as nobody is talking about safe sex.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/condom_ad has developed an on-line petition to protest this decision by FOX and CBS network execs. Please consider signing to let these networks know that North Carolinians want them to stop their hypocrisy and air ads that promote public health.
FOX and CBS
Why am I not surprised? The hypocrisy of the corporate media on this matter is truly mind-boggling.
Thanks for brining this over to BlueNC.
A
PS Any updates on anything we need to be worried about in the General Assembly this session?
Shocker
Fox always loves playing the moral stuff both ways. All they are is a tabloid conglomerate that's bought itself legitimacy with wingnuts. I try not to support anything affiliated with Murdoch.
War is over if you want it.
War is over if you want it.
Condom Controversy... in the General Assembly
Much like FOX and CBS, NC legislators had the opportunity to act in the greater good of public health in 2007, but ultimately neglected to do so. This session, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina backed several common sense measures that moved to improve the health and lives of North Carolinians.
Call me crazy, but it is common sense to me that all rape victims should be offered Emergency Contraception in hospital Emergency Rooms. Likewise, it seems more than reasonable that high students should be educated about abstinence as well as preventing unintended pregnancy and protecting themselves from STI's. Since over 60% of high school students are sexually active before they graduate, it just is good public policy.
Unfortunately, our legislators don't always have the same definition as I do as to what makes good sense and good public policy. As constituents we have to make our opinions known to our elected officials and push them to set policies that represent our views and values. At the end of the day, caving to extremists and special interests is something that is, apparently, best left to FOX.
Theocrats Against Choice
These "special interests" believe they're speaking for god . . . and maybe they are . . . but it's not for any god I would believe in.
One thing I worry about is that issues related to choice/contraception seem to rely on the same folks again and again and again . . . and that we're not doing enough to broaden the discussion to that regular people (who aren't activists) can get up to speed on how all this affects their families and their lives.
I hope you'll stay plugged in here at BlueNC so we can spread the word more effectively to people who aren't already on your side . . . because apparently there aren't enough people on your side to tilt the balance of power toward sanity. It takes awhile to cultivate and spread your "netroots" but I think you'll find it well worth every bit of effort. Don't get discouraged because there are only a few comments . . . just keep coming back. And remember, several thousand people are watching what we're writing . . . and what you're writing.
A
PS I've written a few posts about these issues, but we haven't yet been able to tie them to electoral politics in a tight, clear way. And until we replace more than a few of our legislators, we're not going to get where we want to go.