eclecticism

CBS needs to work on their definition of ‘issue’ ads

02/01/2004 |

Item 1: CBS refuses to run ‘issue advocacy’ ads from MoveOn and PETA during the SuperBowl.

CBS canned a 30-second spot sponsored by the liberal online activist group MoveOn.org. The commercial, which won a celebrity-judged competition for the honor of being MoveOn’s Super Bowl ad, depicts children performing a variety of blue-collar jobs — washing dishes, collecting garbage, working on an assembly line. The tagline near the end of the commercial asks, “Guess who’s going to pay off President Bush’s $1 trillion deficit?”
The network also spiked a commercial submitted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. That ad featured scantily clad women and suggested that meat-eating might contribute to impotence.

Item 2: CBS debuts first-ever HIV/AIDS commercial during the SuperBowl.

CBS will air what is being called the first-ever HIV/AIDS commercial to be seen during Super Bowl Sunday programming.
Sources within CBS’s parent company, Viacom, tell the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network that the 20-second spot is expected to run in the latter half of the Super Bowl XXXVIII Pre-Game Show, when the most viewers are expected to tune in.

p>Somehow, these two stories just don’t add up. The CAP has more on CBS’s double standards.

(via Daily Kos)

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3 Responses to “CBS needs to work on their definition of ‘issue’ ads”

Khandi Says:
February 1st, 2004 at 10:32 am

I think there is a difference between Item 1 and 2. Item 1’s ads are more speculative: it is possible that our children will have to work to pay off Bush’s debt, but it’s also possible (though unlikely) that it will be paid off before then and I don’t think there are any conclusive studies (or studies that don’t have another study that refutes them) that show that meat eaters are more likely to be impotent. But HIV/AIDS is a very real phenomenon and I think it’s great the they will be getting the message out to so many people about the importance of testing and prevention.

Michael Hanscom Says:
February 1st, 2004 at 11:27 am

Oh, I don’t want to come across like they shouldn’t be airing the HIV/AIDS commercial. What’s getting me (and I didn’t really express it well in the post — blame the 2am post time) is that CBS’ excuse for refusing the MoveOn/PETA ads was that they are “issue ads” and “could be controversial”, which CBS claims to have a policy of not accepting. But as the HIV/AIDS ad and the article at CAP make fairly clear, their “policy” doesn’t seem to be a very solid policy as long as it’s a controversial issue ad that they agree with.

Ryan Waddell Says:
February 2nd, 2004 at 11:00 am

I don’t recall seeing the HIV/AIDS ad during the superbowl… and I made it a point never to leave during the commercials. However, there WAS a thetruth.com ad, which is very much an issue ad.