Continuing the theme of controversial advertising:
No sense of humor
CNN and other television outlets have rejected an ad that plays on President Clinton's current troubles.ÿÿAccording to the agency that tried to place the ad for an anti-snoring medication, program directors at the CBS, ABC and NBC affiliates in Washington, as well as some independent stations here, offered a variety of explanations: "Poor taste."
"The Clinton controversy is a very touchy subject right now. If we run this spot, we could get inundated with phone calls."
"The people of Washington are very vocal, especially about sensitive issues like this. We have to be careful about what we play on this station."
The Green Pharmacy, which distributes SnoreStop, a pill that is supposed to relax the membrane that causes snoring, had wanted to run the ad nationally on CNN but was told: "Our network has strict clearance policies. We don't air spots that make any sexual inferences."
However, the ad did run in the Washington area on CNN's Larry King show, as well as on affiliates in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Tampa, Fla. As a public service, for those who missed it, this column offers a description of the controversial commercial.
ÿViewers see the front of the White House and the legend "The president may have more than one problem in bed ..." The camera then zooms into an upper-right-hand window and shows a bedroom rocked by loud snores. Then comes the pitch for SnoreStop. |
