Friday, May 08, 2009

An End to Erectile Dysfunction Ads?



Two US Representatives have introduced a bill that would ban erectile dysfunction ads between the hours of 6 am and 10 pm. YAY!!!

Oh please let it be so! May no other parent ever hear the dreaded question...."Mommy, what's erectile dysfunction?"
How exactly do you 'splain' that to a young'un?

I've lost count of how many of those disgusting and sexually charged ads air on TV in a day. Every channel. Every other commercial it seems. With the man grinnin' ear to ear so you know he just got laid, or singing the praises of Viagra with all his buddies (Viva Viagra!) and the woman all a-bliss and glowing or the Levitra ads with the logo that looks like a vagina and I'm always like....

'EWWWWWWW'....Damn have that discussion with your doctor if you must have it with someone...but I'm not your doctor and I really don't want to hear about it."

To be fair I don't think any pharmaceutical drugs should be advertised. The US and Portugal (I think) are the only countries on earth who allow pharmaceutical companies to push their drugs on TV. It has taught a generation of Americans that there is a pill for everything that ails you when, in reality, there is not. Its been the cause of countless teens being given anti-depressants because they are teens and get on their parents nerves. Did any of you know that in every case of a major school shooting the shooter was on anti-depressants?

Every. Single. One.

I could go on and on and on about this topic but won't. I doubt very many people find the erectile dysfunction ads palatable and would be glad to see them go. I would like to see all of the pharma ads go and think this is a good start.

What do y'all think?


10 comments:

Jay said...

I wouldn't be disappointed if those ads went away, I would only suggest that we bring our disapproval of them to the broadcasters instead of the government. It seems like encouraging the FCC to further regulate commercial content would empower them to censor/outlaw some of the featured programs as well.

On the other hand, if they could slip a provision to eliminate all of the asinine PSAs into that bill, I could get behind that. In reality, they will probably sneak in a provision that will replace the ED drug ads with even more crap from the Ad Council.

Anonymous said...

The new ads for the medipump are the worst. Old men grinning through bad teeth while holding the pump. The visuals haunt me and I'm an adult male. I can't imagine how they affect my preteen daughter. They are truly disturbing.

Anonymous said...

@Jay

Do you really think taking our disapproval to the broadcasters would do anything?

Do you realize the amount of money the broadcasters are being paid to run those commercials?

Do you honestly think they'd stop for you?

Anonymous said...

Ya know, I'm a big fan of your blog Loretta, I read it every day, usually more than once, and I tend to agree with most everything you say, if not at first, almost always by the the end. Hell, I googled you as Christie suggested, in order to find your blog, which also lead me to read about your sex toy drive (which almost left me pissing myself), and of course that you were the cleavage I was urged to vote for in '06. That being said, today's blog caught me off guard... imagine... Loretta Nall, blogging for censorship??? I found this to be news of apocalyptic proportions, thus compelling me to face eastward, waiting on the great invisible wizard in the sky to whisk me away from the impending tribulations of this wretched world. Okay, so maybe the last little part was an exaggeration for comedic affect... shoot me.
Seriously though, I get what your saying, I can remember when I first noticed commercials about feminine hygiene products, and my parents telling me I'm to young to understand, and me assuming that women lost bladder control at an early age. don't judge me.
I just fear giving the government any more censorship than they already possess. In a perfect world, anything needing censorship would outrage the public to the extent of contacting the network, and boycotting until the change is made, but sadly we don't live in a perfect world. Don't get me wrong here, I get what your saying, its just that after taking a good look at the world around me, I feel that if we give our leaders that inch, they'll take a whole damned mile.

Jay said...

@mdm-adph

Clearly they will not stop for me. My point is that if everyone that I have ever heard complain about these ads (myself included) were to threaten to stop watching the networks that aired them, they might consider pulling them. Perhaps the networks would pressure the drug companies to tone down the ads. For example, Don Imus said something that was too controversial, and his networks let him go, without government intervention.

Perhaps I just listen to too much Free Talk Live, but I am very weary of giving the government more control over private broadcasters. I enjoy South Park, Family Guy, and Gordon Ramsey's shows, among others, all of which air before 10 P.M. central time. I don't want the FCC prohibiting the broadcast of those shows by using a precedent set by the above mentioned ban.

CrazyCatLady804 said...

YES, I agree with you Loretta!! I AM SO sick of hearing those ridiculous ads and looking at them before I can get the channel changed quick enough or push that mute button..My mother used to have her remote right there at her fingertips and when anything about Bush or if he was on something she was fast!! haha poor thing got so slow and hardly could move around without help but she could sure push that remote button!! I wish they'd remove some other offensive stuff from TV ads too..

Don said...

BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL:

ATTENTION TROY KING – ON TV THEY ARE RUNNING ADS THAT YOU MAY WANT TO OUTLAW JUST AS YOU WANT TO DO WITH SEX TOYS. ZIP UP YOUR BRITCHES AND GET WITH THE PROGRAM.

Loretta Nall said...

Jay...I'm not really calling for censorship of the ads altogether. It would just be nice if they were aired at a time when kids aren't watching TV.

I'm against all pharma ads. The elected officials are in the pocket of big pharma. Pharmaceutical companies have the largest and most well funded lobby in the country. In fact they have made it so that if you choose a natural medicine like pot for your condition you go to jail. They lobby and spend big bucks to keep it that way. Any pharma ads mean the pharma company is making more money to line the pockets of politicians who in turn keep us down.

I am a big fan of South Park, Family Guy and American Dad too. The difference between those shows and the limp noodle ads is that I can choose not to watch those shows which only air on one channel. With the limp noodle ads I cannot seem to get away from them. They are on every channel at all hours of the day and night.

admin said...

This is crazy. I haven't seen this blog, but while mindlessly watching television programs the other night, I pondered on the absurdity of having advertisements for prescription medication. If you have a medical problem, your doctor analyzes you and prescribes you some medication. Those advertising campaigns are aimed at increasing demand for prescription drugs. But when you think about it, a person that will purchase the drug because of an ad, rather than because a doctor prescribed it to them, does not really need the medication.

While I do not like government involvement with the media, I am 100% with you on that one!

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

I also agree with you on this issue, Loretta. I'm disgusted everytime I hear "Viagra this...Cialis that"...and my son is 15, and hearing this. You can't watch tv in the evenings, without being blasted with these ads. I know that 15 year olds might even want to hear stuff like that...but I'd prefer that he didn't. Do us women really believe that woman grinning from ear to ear about "bigger" and "better"? Come on...that's stupid!! LMAO...