Posted on 11/16/2001 1:23:54 PM PST by Stand Watch Listen
One recent Sunday afternoon, Josh and Beth Nelson's family in Buffalo, Minn., saw aliens, carnal temptations and violence against women.
"OK, it was on TV," Beth Nelson said by way of clarification, "but it was not what we were hoping to see. We wanted to watch the Vikings game as a family."
Instead, they found that along with first downs, touchbacks and field goals came commercials for beer, "The X-Files" and a new movie about Jack the Ripper. Suddenly, two parents who'd hoped to add all-American sports to their youngsters' PBS-heavy viewing felt blindsided by the ads larding the program.
"We're not prudes, and by no means protectionist," Josh said, "but why do they have to run this stuff on a Sunday afternoon, when children are watching?"
The Nelson family has stumbled into a virtual no-man's-land of television: its commercials. The only legal limitation on content is a prohibition against cigarette ads. Any restraints on alcohol commercials are voluntary.
And neither addresses parental concerns about violence, profanity and sexuality in commercials during so many programs.
The Nelsons cited a couple more from the Vikings telecast: a "Boston Public" preview, which suggests that a student bound and killed his mother, then chopped off her hand; also, a beer commercial where a young couple on a date get naked and jump in a pool.
Parents also have complained about the bloody joust promoting the movie "A Knight's Tale" during the children's program "Blue's Clues"; and about a shadowy, sensuous "Victoria's Secret" ad that ran during "Friends," a show popular with pre-adolescent girls.
The Nelsons figure that sports audiences are mostly male, so they understand that most commercials are there with men in mind. But they want broadcasters to remember there's a family audience for weekend shows, too. They want either an end to commercials for violent programs or at least new ads without the gore. Also, they ask, why use a blonde with exposed cleavage to sell a gas additive?
The Nelsons are up against some powerful demographics, advertising professionals said.
"Televised sports are unique in the relatively high concentration and overall numbers of male viewers," said John Rash, a senior vice president at the Minneapolis-based marketing firm of Campbell Mithun. "In contrast to most prime-time shows, which average 60 percent to two-thirds women viewers . . . this is a way to communicate to hard-to-reach male viewers."
Which means there's no end in sight for the Nelsons' chore of switching to the Weather Channel every time a commercial interrupts the Vikings game.
Beth Nelson grew up watching Vikings games with her family, and she wanted to create the same kind of memories for her children: Bergen, 9, Leif, 6, and Solveig, 4.
The toughest explanation her parents faced was the Hamm's beer commercial, with a bear and a forest stream, Beth said, "and it's easier to talk to kids about responsible alcohol consumption than to explain bondage and murder."
The Nelsons started a game-day routine with their children this fall. The family comes home from church in time to change into Vikings shirts before the noontime kickoff - except for Josh, who takes a little longer getting home because he is a pastor at the church, Spirit of Joy Lutheran.
They have Sunday dinner in the living room, the family's single exception to the no-TV-during-mealtime rule. Josh or Beth are careful to have the remote control within reach, and they try to change channels when they see commercials coming. "Then we turn back, hoping we didn't miss a big play," Josh said.
Bergen is the biggest football fan, and his parents encourage his interest, not just for the fun but also because of the reading, math and memory work it inspires in him.
"I think the Vikings are really fun to watch," Bergen said, "and even if they're losing, they can always make a good comeback."
Josh said he believes professional football leagues need to consider youngsters such as Bergen when televising games, and the commercials in them.
"Don't they want the kids to watch it?" he said. "They're the future fans."
"We get a lot of notes about advertising around sports events," said Gary Ruskin, director of Commercial Alert, a nonprofit media-watch organization in Washington, D.C. Part of the problem, Ruskin said, is that the proliferation of TV stations has broadcasters in such competition for advertising dollars that it leads to a "race to the bottom when it comes to (advertising) standards."
Parents may have reason for concern. There's still disagreement on the persuasive power of advertising, but the Center for Science in the Public Interest has concluded, for example, that "alcohol advertising can influence children, particularly in their beliefs around alcohol and, indirectly, their intentions to drink as adults."
At Fox Sports in New York City, spokesman Lou D'Ermilio said the choice of commercials during pro football games is driven by a strong demographic: The biggest slice of the audience is men ages 18 to 49. That's what drives all the car, credit card, food, beer and action-film ads during the broadcasts.
"We're in no way trying to offend anyone," he said. "We just need to appeal to the main target."
Rash, at Campbell Mithun, illustrated the strength of the male numbers around sports. During the last week of October, Rash said, "Monday Night Football" got a 9.5 rating and 26 share with men ages 18 to 49. That means almost one in every 10 men in the United States watched the game; also, among the men who were watching TV that Monday night, one in four were watching football.
By comparison, only about one in 30 U.S. men that age watched "Ally McBeal" that night (a 3.5 rating), Rash said, and only 8 percent of the men watching TV at that time watched that show.
National Football League viewers tend to be college-educated, salaried managers and professionals, with household incomes over $75,000 and one or more children, according to the Simmons Market Research Bureau in New York.
"So, obviously they are desirable consumers," said Craig Harper, executive vice president at Simmons.
The Nelsons said they might start contacting other parents. If enough join them in tuning out the ads, that desirable demographic disappears. Bergen says he thinks they should do something.
"Our parents make us cover our eyes if any ads come on, but then we can't cover our ears," he said, "so sometimes we hear bad stuff like people screaming. I know a lot of other Vikings fans out there that are kids, and I don't think this is appropriate."
Please. They are seeing one hell of a lot worse on Friends than they are getting from the Victoria's Secret commercial.
Uh, I think I know the answer to that one.
I'd rather watch a Victoria's Secret commercial than football, anytime.
Alright everybody, let's all chip in and rent this guy a clue.
Excusez-moi? Hahaha
We already have a rating system for shows, and the v-chip allows blocking of shows by rating. Simply have advertisers rate their commercials, and allow consumers to block commercials based upon their content.
People who want to see adult commercials could see them, and people who didn't wouldn't have to view them.
No government intervention, no censorship.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.