Jewish World Review July 28, 2003 / 28 Tamuz, 5763

David Grimes

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Ads that are hard to swallow


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Proving, finally, that some good did come from the war, Vietnam has banned TV and radio ads for condoms and sanitary pads during dinnertime.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Culture and Information, advertisements of that sort are "unaesthetic and unsuitable to Vietnamese psychology and traditional customs." The ban, which is only in effect between 6 and 8 p.m., also covers ads for toilet paper and drugs that treat skin diseases.

Clearly, such a ban is long overdue in the United States. Family dinnertime can be stressful enough without a Charmin or Desenex ad interrupting the soup course. And who can enjoy dessert knowing that at any minute you could look up from your bowl of ice cream and see Bob Dole pitching Viagra?

The question, of course, is why Vietnam's Ministry of Culture and Information believes that the nation's psychology will be damaged less by commercials in the hours before and after dinnertime. Are the people of Vietnam more vulnerable to evil messages of foot-odor problems when they have food in front of them? Is it a good idea to hash out feminine hygiene issues on an empty stomach? Also, will banning indelicate commercials during dinnertime undo the damage that's been done over the many, previous uncensored years? Perhaps the psychic shock will be greater if people are not exposed to Trojan commercials while they're lifting that first succulent forkful of Hamburger Helper to their mouths.

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And it's hard to make the case that condom and sanitary pad commercials are any more offensive than, say, the Bright House commercial where the girls at the slumber party squawk in unison, "When Bobby calls!" Questions of digestion are not really at issue when every cell in your body is urging you to throw the toaster through the TV screen.

Which is just one reason why governments should be reluctant to take that first step down the slippery slope of censorship. If you ban sanitary napkin commercials at dinnertime, shouldn't you also ban provocative beer commercials, SUV commercials and any and all commercials involving Carrot Top? For better or worse (worse), a nation's psychology is defined, to some degree, by the commercials to which its citizens are exposed.

But still, it will be interesting to see how Vietnam's social experiment pans out. Will the lack of indelicate commercials at dinnertime strengthen the family unit or weaken it? Will people feel the need to talk to one another at mealtime? Is this necessarily a good thing? And exactly which skin disorders are we talking about, anyway?

No matter what the outcome, I don't see anything like this happening in the U.S.A. where the commercials are often more entertaining than the programs. Now if we could figure out a way to ban those, we might be on to something.

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JWR contributor David Grimes is a columnist for The Sarasota Herald Tribune. Comment by clicking here.

Up

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