Inappropriate commercial during kid's movie?

Question

Maybe I am being over-protective or prude but the other day my 10 yr old daughter and I were watching Matilda on TBS and a commercial came on for Valtex, the medication for genital herpes. Why would TBS thing it is appropriate to air a commercial like that during a kids movie? The same thing happened when we were watching ABC world news during dinner and a commercial for viagra came on. The one with the song "Viva Viagra" well my daughter doesn't know what viagra is but later I heard her singing the jingle and I had to explain why that wasn't an appropriate song for her to sing. Now I know the news is geared toward adults but many families watch the news during dinner with their children present. I did not want to explain to my daughter what Viagra was ever and did not want to get into detail about genital herpes yet seeing as how she has zero intrest in boys other than to play sports with them. Am I over reacting and should I have explained it to her?

Answer 1

Although I completely agree that it is inappropriate to air certain commercials geared towards adults during family type programming, I would look at it in a more positive light (here goes the lemons into lemonade speech).  At 10 your daughter may have heard more than you think about these kinds of topics.  Use the commercials as a way to engage her into conversation about morals, and healthy living.  My 7 and 9 year old daughters have asked me out of the blue what AIDS is...and I explained it in a way that they understood....it was difficult at first because that naturally led to questions about other diseases.  Be as honest as you possibly can, and use your child's maturity as a guideline as to how in-depth you wish to go.  My daughters pretty much know a lot because they love medical science books (their dad is an RN in the Army and has text books everywhere).  If you are comfortable with it, you may get your daughter a book entitled "The Care and Keeping of You" The body book for girls  http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp...  .  It will definitely open the door for her to ask any questions, prepare her for the changes she will go through, and build trust between mother and daughter.

Answer 2

I hate that too, but those kinds of commercials are on 24-7 on all channels now. As parents, we have the choice to either deal with it when it comes up or only allow the kids to watch the kid channels, which gets harder as they get older.

At 10, your daughter is already hearing more stuff at school than you want her to anyway (I know what I heard at 10 in school, and that was in '81-82', so I can only imagine now!). I would just go ahead and have the talk with her before she is misinformed by her peers. Every time I turn around, I hear about some 12-year-old who is pregnant. None of us like the idea of our children growing up too fast, but each generation is doing it faster than the last one. And just because you think she has no interest in boys yet does not make it true, we can never get completely into their heads.

You don't have to get graphic, but I would still consider having the talk, maybe not today, but somewhere in the next year or so.

**Side note: if not for my husband, I think I really could live without tv altogether!

Answer 3

Well, I agree that's a totally ridiculous and inappropriate commercial to air during Matilda.  You might want to call or email the station; viewer feedback can influence what commercials are likely to air.

As for the news, I'm not so sure.  I'd be far more concerned about some of the stories on the news -- killings, rapes, etc. --than about a Viagra commercial, and I'd think that anyone not ready to listen to the latter is probably not ready to listen to the former, either.  Just imho.

In any event, I'd take the commercials as a great opportunity to start having some more detailed discussions about s*x with your daughter.  10 is old enough that her friends are likely to know more details than you've shared with her, and in fact there may already or soon be some discussions about s*x and/or puberty as part of the school curriculum.  Of course it's up to you and you can wait ... but personally I'd rather be the one who tells my daughter about those things than have it be one of her (probably misinformed) friends.  And it's so much less awkward to initiate a discussion in response to a commercial that she's asking about than to bring s*x up completely out of the blue for one big, embarrassing "birds and bees talk".

edit -- and as for the g*y rights activist, was he or she kissing anyone on the broadcast? My kids are much younger than yours, but I'd be very comfortable explaining to them if they heard an interview with a g*y rights advocate that person believes that people should be allowed to love whomever they want (and that I happen to agree with them).  Nothing so terrible or shocking about that.

Answer 4

I have no idea why they do that. You would think that there would be some sort of regulation about that. I have stopped watching the news when my children are around. I have disconnected cable and much of what my kids watch is on video or netflix. And even when the commercials are age appropriate, it only serves to make them beg for toys that they don't need and will only play with for about two days before consigning them to the toy box forever. Viva PBS!

Answer 5

You have to let the station know. Write a letter to them, explaining, and they will forward your concerns to the network.

Answer 6

Yes, I totally agree with you, my daughter was watching cartoons the other day and a commercial for erectial dysfunction came on, luckily she didn't ask, and I didn't say anything, but still the fact that it was on during a time when only children are watching is terrible, She is 6.

I guess it is getting to the point where they either can't watch tv, or we need to be prepared to explain stuff to them, at earlier ages than we had planned.

Answer 7

kids like to watch car racing and nascar has a driver that is sponsored by viagra with viagra written on the sides of the car .what do you tell your kids if you want that driver to win the race , root for the viagra car how embarrassing.i guess the drug company's make a lot of that way. it is embarrassing to see those commercials when the evening news is on especially when watching with mixed company.

Answer 8

I use it has an education tool. When my son and I are watching and he has a question I answer it correctly. I feel if he is old enough to ask he is old enough to know. Once the question is answered he forgets about it. My son is 9 years old and we can talk about everything and we do. I have read him some really good kids books about body functions. I do let him know that he should not talk about this with his friends because it is up to the child's parents to inform them when they feel there child should know. So far so good!

Answer 9

I really hate those commercials too.

What you should do is complain to the station airing the commercial.  It has been a  long time since I  was in the broadcast media field, but back then every complaint carried the weight of 100,000 people.  So few people complained that as few as 10 complaints would pull a commercial off the air.

Don't know what the ratio is now, but stations will still count your complaint as more than just one person with a problem.

I too, wonder exactly who Viagra is marketing to.  I have never heard a 75yr old wandering down the street singing Viva Viagra.... but have heard 8 yr olds singing it in church.

As for explaining things to them......

A long standing rule in our house which my kids learned from a very young age, is that if you don't know what it means..... don't say it.  (kind of to bad the networks don't use the same rule)

Anyhow, any cuss word, or inappropriate phrase is met with "what does that mean".  IF they can define it, they probably would not say it in the first place, if they can define it however sometimes you end up learning all sorts of things when you ask them how it applies in this situation.

So for the kid who sings  "Viva Viagra" I would say, "What does that mean" if they don't know, I say, " if you don't know what it means, don't say it".

It can tend to lead to questions about the meaning of inappropriate words and phrases.  But my thoughts on that is that "I" would rather be teaching them that, then have the kids on the playground do it for me....

Answer 10

Next time rent the movie.  The commercials are what pay for the movies to be shown.  The makers of Valtrex paid for the chance for your daughter to view that movie on television.  If you don't want commercials don't watch television, rent the movies instead.

Answer 11

It's amazing how much tv has changed since I was little!  It's weird to see so many things now that as adults we just ignore or pass over, but that aren't 'appropriate' for our children to be seeing.  I am the same as you, feeling the same way.  I remember when feminine product commercials were the worst of it, and I was actually embarrassed as a kid when those ones came on during a show!  It's kinda sad the things that are allowed on tv nowadays.  Just goes to show we have to look out for our kids more ourselves, and you can't expect other people to feel the same way.  I've noticed that, even with the language they allow on radio now.  Some words I remember never hearing when I was younger!  I know a lot of people like the whole honest and open thing, but sometimes it gets out of hand, I think.

Answer 12

I agree. I tend to stop watching channels that do that. My other huge peeve is the horror or thriller movie section near the children's section (or facing it!) in a video rental store. Geesh people!

Answer 13

No, you're not over reacting!  I am the same way when I see innappropriate commercials on tv while my kids are watching.  I think these networks should save these type of commercials for late night or prime time hours when children are in bed, not during programs targeted for youngsters.  

Don't they have ANY common sense at all??!!

Answer 14

They do that stuff alot, they're just trying to get people to buy their product. I suggest putting a movie in instead, a lot less hassel.

Answer 15

you are not overreacting i feel the same way hence why i do not allow my daughter to watch any tv, if she wants to watch a movie i go either buy it for her, rent it or take her to the movies. These days the darn tv stations only care for their profit and not the well being for the children in this era

Answer 16

I agree that you should voice your complaints to the station manager. But an easy fix in the meantime is to get a Digital Video Recorder (like TIVO) and then you can just fast forward through the commercials.

Answer 17

Oh, I hate that!!! Just turn the tv off during commercials..Dont know why they stick that c**p in there during kid's shows!