The Parents Television Council has released a report condemning MTV for peddling sex to kids. The report, titled MTV Smut Peddlers: Targeting Kids With Sex, Drugs And Alcohol, claims MTV consistently goes over the line. PTC President L. Brent Bozell said, "MTV is blatantly selling raunchy sex to kids. Compared to broadcast television programs aimed at adults, MTV's programming contains substantially more sex, foul language and violence and MTV's shows are aimed at children as young as 12. Theres no question that TV influences the attitudes and perceptions of young viewers, and MTV is deliberately marketing its raunch to millions of innocent children."
Upon viewing 171 hours of programming, the group found MTV reality programming to contain 13 sexual scenes per hour and its music videos to contain 32 utterances of foul language per hour.
And so goes the argument. Some say parents should just turn the TV off.
Others say MTV, because it is part of basic cable, does not allow parents to decide whether or not it comes into the home. Bozell asks, "Given a choice, how many parents now being forced to take and pay for MTV as part of a basic cable package, would continue to do so?"
In this world of sports stadiums named after brands, product placements intruding upon content and logos affixed to everything including foreheads, Zodiac Vodka has decided not to up the anti. In a series of print ads, the distiller has positioned itself as the official sponsor of everything. The ads contains headlines such as, "Life is always half full" paid off with the tagline, "Zodiac Vodka. Official Sponsor of Optimism." Others include "If opposites attract, how come positive wants nothing to do with negative"? paid off by, "Zodiac Vodka.
Official Sponsor of Physics.
The insanity of advertising complaints isn't exclusive to America as witnessed by a recent complaint lodged by a Swedish woman about an L'Oreal ad showing a man's hand on a woman's body. Sending her complaint to the Ethical Advertising watchdog of Sweden, the woman, Sara, claims the ad is pedophile-like because the woman in the ad looks like a small girl. Adland has the entire story including the fact that the woman in the ad is, in fact, a woman and that the ad was retouched to remove her breasts thereby, perhaps, causing the woman's complaints. If you ask us, we don't know what the big deal is. It's one of the most innocuous ads we've seen.
As part of an ongoing TV campaign which thanks corporate America for not taking too much vacation, Universal Orlando Resort has launched a website focusing on the negatives of not taking a vacation but gives you the tools to improve your vacation going skills. It provides the chance to fight back with some statistics (Americans take the least amount of vacation days), calculate your Vacation Deficiency Quotient and beat your boss up in an online game. All this leads to another site complete with motivational techno music and means to explore what Universal Orlando has to offer.
MSN Search is pumping itself up with an expansive ad campaign which, at it's final girth, will cover 90 percent of U.S. households 40 times over the next eight weeks. We have to admit, that's some serious stamina but, then again, this is Microsoft. Further explaining how the campaign will penetrate the market, MSN Director of Global Campaigns Chris Cocks (we don't make this stuff up!) said, "This will be our biggest campaign since the introduction of the MSN Butterfly in 2000."
If you're happy with Google, get your protective gear on because MSN will soon be knocking, ever so urgently, at your doorway.
Lee and Dan now have last names. They are Brooks and Ford respectively and they have formally apologized to VW for the creation of the Suicide Bomber ad in which a Middle Eastern looking man blows himself up inside a VW Polo. VW received sworn statements from the two acknowledging their involvement in the creation of the ad along with this statement, "The creators regret the distribution of the film, will not publicize it further and apologize unreservedly for the damage caused to Volkswagen." VW has dropped legal action toward the two.
OK, good. Next?
While we haven't seen much of Enrique Iglesias recently ion the American music scene, he is, apparently, still popular the world over and Tommy Hilfiger is tapping that popularity. Tommy Hilfiger Tioletries has signed a deal with the singer to be the face of its new True Star Men fragrance line planned for a fall 2005 launch. Beyonce recently signed on as spokesperson for True Star Women. Somehow, we think True Star Women will fare better.
Adholes.com, a 1,500 member social networking site for the advertising industry started last November, has made a special blog available for members of the ad industry to offer real-time Super Bowl critique to this year's newly launched commercials. The blog, available at superbowl.adholes.com (registration required) allows Adhole members to log their opinions on the blog and for others to comment on those opinions.
