Tuesday, 01 July 2008
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Inappropriate TV Commercials
by Mama FoxI've always disliked certain commercials because of content, like the "Smiling Bob" male enhancement ad and certain Red Bull commercials. There's been a couple of times where my boys have seen them but it was during a show that wasn't exactly geared to children, like Power Block on Spike (fixing cars). So okay, my kids are little and don't understand them. One day they will and I feel that day isn't far off when Fox1 will start asking questions. So I've been more careful about what my children are exposed to.
Recently, we were sitting as a family watching Goonies on TNT. The boys love pirates so I thought they would really enjoy it even though it is a bit old for them. It's still a family film. Then what should come on? A Red Bull commercial. The one where a grieving widow is sitting with her children and going over her husband's will. The lawyer surprised her by saying that everything was left to "Ms. Blonde Chick" (whatever the name was) and showed a very much younger and fashionable woman sitting there. Widow pulls a Red Bull out of her purse and proceeds to chase after her "angel" husband who was sitting on a cloud day dreaming about Ms. Chick.
HORRIBLE AWFUL COMMERCIAL! And my children were sitting there watching it!
That is so not cool with me. I may not be able to protect them from all the things I find inappropriate in the world but I also don't like it shoved in their face DURING A FAMILY FILM! I am SO beyond pissed off. Being the out spoken and slightly insane mother that I am, I shot an email off to TNT.
Today my family was watching Goonies on TNT and a Red Bull commercial came on that showed an adulterer that had died and left everything to his girlfriend instead of his wife and kids. I am really appalled that it was shown during a family film in the middle of the day. I do not want my kids subjected to that and feel commercials with that type of content should be reserved for late night showings or at least during films that isn't geared towards children. It's made me rethink tuning into TNT in the future if I can't trust that the commercials will be family friendly during family films.So, what do you think? Should they do a better job screening commercials during daytime family films?
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Comments (30)
I agree i really wish they would!!!even on some of the other kids channels there are still commercials that i dont think are appropriate and i'm a tad laid back.i think it was good you sent that message.umm yeah we no loner have cable there's a reason for that
I also agree, sometimes I'm even a bit put off by the content of kids shows. But anyway, I feel like you were doing your part, you were watching a family film with your children. I think it's great that you were there for just this situation, and in case your kids would have questions. But I do think it is a bit unfair that you should be thrust into that situation during a family film. I think networks and parents need to do their part, you kept up your end of the bargain and they need to keep theirs.
I don't plan on getting cable or anything like it when I have kids, and my fiance agrees with me. Neither of us are big TV watchers. We'll watch a movie occasionally, but we have never watched a TV show together- not even movies on TV!
They should. That doesn't mean they WILL. They make better money off the people that don't care about the commercials than those of us who do care. We have dropped our subscription to Directv for the same reasons-Smiley Bob during the dinner hours instead of late at night in fact-and instead spend the monthly cable money on movies we approve as a family. Better spent I think.
First, KUDOS on introducing the classic Goonies to your children, every child needs to grow up with that movie. I think it helped shape me as an adult.
Second, I have actually heard a lot of my friends who have children are getting rid of cable. A guy I went to college with said that he got Netflix and they have a box that you can order so to watch movies directly from the website on the tv. He said that they were tired of the innapropriate commercials. This way they could watch children's programming directly from Netflix without worrying about commercials.
I am not a father, YET, my wife is 11 weeks preggo, but we think about these things and what our children will be exposed to.
Good post, thanks.
I don't know. I'm more concerned about the violence than the sexual innuendo. I actually think if they laugh at people who cheated, they'd be less likely to do it.
Information is power. I try not to shield my kids too much from stuff. But I do try to talk to them a lot, and honestly.
THIS is why we dont have any cable stations. I get channels 2 - 13 and if the TV is actually on, it's on PBS. We arent big fans of TV anyway.. video games are another story though, with a 14 year old in the house we have inappropriate issues in that area to deal with.
I absolutely agree that the commercials should be appropriate to what is currently on tv. Unfortunately I doubt the station will do much. I would suggest to you that these are great opportunties to talk to your kids (when they are old enough to understand). If they happen to catch an inappropriate commencial make a comment about it and then proceed to tell them why you don't agree with it. Best way for them to learn morals and ethics is to see it through their parents!
i don't think i'm gonna let my kids watch tv at all...
Just the opposite perspective here... but maybe parents need to do a better job of screening what their kids watch. You did say yourself that the shows were not geared towards children of your boys' age, right?
Um....have you ever watched TNT before? It doesn't surprise me AT ALL that they would show a commercial like that. You need to be aware of what you're watching, and what you're letting your kids watch.
It's not "they" who need to do a better job screening stuff for YOUR kids...that's YOUR job.
I don't think it's quite as inappropriate as you're making it out to be. A child who doesn't understand the "smilin' Bob" commercials probably is too young to understand that Ms. Monique Jacklyn Smith was the guy's Mistress. There are many more inappropriate commercials than those two that do not get shown during a 2 PM movie for the express purpose of family values. For instance, I doubt you saw ads for Nightline or Budweiser during the movie. Honestly, no child is going to be hung up on the hot girl that stole the money, they are going to want to go out and buy Red Bull because they honestly and truly believe that it "gives you wings," just like they might want Enzyte because -like me when I was younger- they really think that it makes you happier and better at sports. There are so many better fights than whether or not your children see a 30 second ad with subtle innuendo.
Well, I agree that it's not good to be exposing children to certain commercials but (don't chew my head off here) I don't think you picked a very good example. Of all the bad commercials your kids could have been exposed to, I don't think that commercial is very bad. Plus, it was on TNT; which, as far as I know (and I don't know a WHOLE lot about TV) isn't geared towards children/families at all.
Just my opinion, but of course it's your decision what you do and don't want to expose your children to... plus I'm only 17, so what do I know? ;)
Just like they have to keep previews rated to match the movie in theaters, they should do the same with television shows! I am glad you told TNT what you thought! I do hope someone actually pays attention to your email!
They should definitely hold commercials to a higher standard! I recently caught wind of an indecent commercial put on in the UK by Heinz, which prompted me to send an email to the company. They replied with an apology and further explanation that no one liked it or found it amusing, so they pulled it. More people need to voice their opinions about inappropriate content instead of just passively ignoring the stupidity.
Definitely. I called one of the male enhancement companies yesterday because my 8 year old sister was watching TV at 2:30 in the afternoon when one of their commercials came on.
I agree with the couple of people who said that they agreed but that the commercial wasn't really that bad (there are many much worse). Goonies is a GREAT movie, but it too even though it's filmed using children, isn't completely child-friendly. I suppose it depends on the ages of your children, really.
There are some pretty bad commercials out there that air during completely inappropriate times, so yes, I'm with you on that. However, normal tv (and especially particular cable channels) are not suited for children at all if you're going to try to protect them from seeing those type things. Stick with the specifically kid-oriented channels or watch movies on DVD.
I agree with you.
The thing is, though, it's a Red Bull commercial. I don't think they're paying attention to the content, but what it's for. It's a drink commercial, not a KY Jelly commercial, so how could it be bad, right? Wrong. But hey, that adulterer got what was coming to him... Except he was in heaven. Why did he go to heaven if he was an adulterer in the first place?... Oh well.
I think when I have kids, I'll be more concerned with video games than with tv. My boyfriend and I don't watch a ton of TV, but we do play games. And a lot of games are kid-oriented, and a lot of them have great morals to teach, even the ones that are for teens/adults. Not all games are like GTA, really.
when I was in elementary school my parents installed the v-chip in my television, and all the televisions in our house, then when I got older, and understood more stuff, they removed, more likely when I got to high school. But now the media is just taking it way too far. and people are wondering why our society is so courrupt.
Kudos to you for doing that
Come to think of it, though.. A lot of kid-oriented shows have a lot of material you wouldn't usually want them to see. I've gone back and watched kid shows, and characters get "drunk." But when you're a kid, you don't understand what that is. There's just a funny cartoon falling all over himself, and hiccuping a lot. And it's just funny. Then, remember things like Bugs Bunny? He would dress up as a woman and seduce Elmer Fudd. Kids shows aren't even all that clean, but I don't know if that's necessarily that bad. I never thought anything about it when I was a kid, and I never realized it was "bad" or questionable until I was old enough to realize what it was.