 “I AM smiling.” |
Representative Jim Moran (D-VA) has seen them … and you’d be hard pressed to see a smile on his face when he talks about the ads.
“A number of people,” he says, “have come up, including colleagues, and said I’m fed up. I don’t want my three or four-year old grandkid asking me what erectile dysfunction is all about. And I don’t blame them.”
Enter H.R. 2175. That’s a bill that Rep. Moran introduced last month that would prohibit any ED ads from airing on broadcast radio and TV between 6AM and 10PM….
CNN asked Pfizer, which makes Viagra, the first pill available by prescription to treat ED, what they thought of Rep. Moran’s bill.
“Pfizer is committed to responsible advertising… In line with our policies and the policies of the industry, Viagra advertising is aired in shows most likely to reach men suffering from erectile dysfunction. ED can be a signal for other serious medical issues, including high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease”….
Rep. Moran [says,] “It is an intrusion into the quality of life that we like to experience…. You know enough is enough. This is inappropriate.”
It sounds like some people need some training in answering kids’ questions. They’re going to ask them. Hiding under a rock won’t help. You give them an answer “appropriate” for their age and understanding. At an early age, that answer can be very general and non-specific, like if a four-year-old asked, “What’s a spleen?”
Thanks, K B
I agree with the congressman. You don’t see ads on tv for stinky vaginas, and if you did, you would at least turn the sound off. Unfortunately networks are whores for money and drug companies have lots of that.
Whats a spleen is a totally different question. A 4 year old doesn’t need to know what erectile dysfunction is. These commercials should be banned, along with male enhancement, etc adds.
I think they need to be banned because they promote the idea of old guys with 2nd or 3rd wives young enough to be their daughters to be the norm. I’m having enough trouble meeting women as it is, and now I have to compete with 2 generations.
Boomers, face it, you’re old. Get over it and start a woodworking hobby.
I don’t think there’s much sense in ANY prescription drug ads, for the most part this stuff should be left to doctors and pharmacists. The ED ads need to go, or be limited.
The Congressman doesn’t go far enough. We need to ban all prescription drugs ads. All they do is push name brand drugs on patent. Why is the USA the only country that allows ads for prescription drugs?
I agree as well. I doubt that the advertising does any good and I’m tired of seeing senior couples in bathtubs overlooking the coast as well.
Like the TV content is so compelling. People must want to see these adds. They sit in front of the stupid box waiting for them.
Ban all drug ads on t.v.These ads create demand that is bogus.Most countries ban drug ads for this reason.We should look to Portugal for the answer to our drug problems.This will not happen because to much money is made from legal and illegal drugs.
Gosh, if preventing harm to the tv watcher is the goal, shouldn’t ALL TV ADS be prohibited?
But since I personally care not, seems to me there is at least a nexus in having adult drugs discussed at adult viewing times, and kiddie drugs addressed at the other times.
Equal time I think the rule is called.
All prescription drug ads are inappropriate, except maybe public service announcements about generic drugs being just as effective as the brand names.
I think ALL broadcast TV should PG or less.
What difference does time of day make? Who thinks kids go to bed at 10pm anymore?
If you want violence or porn get cable, satellite or rent DVDs.
But those Viagra commercials? With the couple sitting on the beach with a voice-over about “E.D”? That’s PG, at most!
Perhaps we should not advertise any drugs, prescription, alcohol, or whatever.
Especially though with prescription drug ads, we should consider whether we want to remain the nation of overmedicated fools that we have become.
With just 4% of world population, the U.S. consumes 56% of world medication. And, we’re not any healthier for it.
The meds are now detectable in our drinking water!
Is this what we want? People see the ads and decide they have the condition. Meanwhile, they were not bothered by it prior to seeing the ad. We need to stop manufacturing diseases and conditions that require medications.
It’s fine to medicate when needed. I’m just not convinced that people sitting happily in their living rooms watching TV suddenly come down with the various conditions advertised. And yet, they do then go to their doctors and take the meds.
Something is seriously wrong.
What a Moran.
#9 – bobbo,
Kiddie drugs??!!? Perhaps we shouldn’t tell kids that they want medication either. It starts them nice and early in life thinking that whatever is going on in their lives … there’s a pill for that.
#1 yes you do. The DOUCHE ads!
I’m sick of ALL DRUG advertisements on television, radio, magazines and newspapers. I think it is inappropriate, and it’s pure, simple, and unadulterated greed.
I’m sick of the “may cause explosive diarrhea” contraindications and the sudden focus on new names for boring old things (i.e. restless leg, overactive bladder, penile erectile disfunction). Give it a rest GREEDY drug companies. I don’t want your pills…and I hate your manipulative advertisements and reformulations to keep the big bucks rolling in.
#2 Why is telling a 4 year old about erectile any less appropriate than telling them about other medical conditions that mostly affect ‘older people’,like osteoporosis and arthritis?
By the time they are 7 or 8, they will have learned about them from their friends anyway.
My 14 year old was rooting through a drawerful of pens recently – many of which come from medical reps – and came accross one advertising Viagra. Apparently it now takes pride of place in his pencil case. All I have said is that he needs to be selective about where he uses it!
“Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech”
#17 – Mike,
That’s a silly argument. We don’t have cigarette ads on TV anymore. And we still can’t yell FIRE in a crowded theater.
Drug ads do direct harm to our health and our water supply. Same thing as yelling FIRE, IMNSHO.
It amazes me that so much money is spent advertising ED drugs anyway…what rock do you have to be living under to not know about these meds?
#14 I agree. We spend half the time telling kids to say no to drugs and the other 1/2 convincing them that drugs are good.