Inclusive Message Too Controversial

[wildernesse]

I don't know if you've heard or not, but NBC and CBS have recently declared the United Church of Christ's new ad (http://www.stillspeaking.com/default.htm) to be too controversial to air. The ad conveys a message of inclusion--but including gays and lesbians and other minorities is apparently over the top. CBS has cited its reason for rejecting the ad because acceptence of gays is controversial, noting the Bush administration's gay marriage ammendment --and also that the ad proselytizes.

I wonder if they run the UMC's Open Minds, Open Hearts, Open Doors ads? I'm pretty sure that they do, and that message doesn't seem to be any different. And ads for the LDS ads that are freakin' everywhere certainly are far more proselytizing than most other ads, including this one.

Anyway, there is a petition that the People for the American Way is gathering "signatures" for. For more info, you can go here (http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=).

[LadyShea]

Thanks Wildy. I am glad it wasn't a simple online petition...looks like they actually send a letter or email instead.

[livius drusus]

I thought it was advocacy - in the sense that the ad could be interpreted as a political statement against the gay marriage ammendment - rather than prosyletizing that was the networks' excuse for rejecting it. I find it a less than plausible excuse.

I was wondering if perhaps they were thinking of the recent Saving Private Ryan/FCC/FOF flap. In this day and age of instant communications, they could be flooded by thousands of complaints by a tiny core of activists every time the commercial aired (see Frank Rich's recent article, The Great Indecency Hoax (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/28/arts/28rich.html?oref=login&oref=login) for a fascinating analysis of those email floods, btw - requires reg).

After all, CBS' giant eye is still bleeding from the fines Janet Jackson's breast incurred and although I don't see how there could be any such consequences in this consequence, I don't doubt they'll tend to avoid anything that might mobilize FOF-style organizations. It's interesting - although I don't think it means anything in particular - that ABC is again showing some backbone.

Thanks for the link to the petition. Off to sign now.

[wildernesse]

Here is a link (http://interactive.pfaw.org/images/cbs_fax.jpg) to CBS's fax from earlier this year, in which it states its reasons for denying the ad.

Other interesting info from the UCC about the apparent "misunderstanding" (http://www.stillspeaking.com/news/release3.html).

[Petra]

How weird. I thought the ad was nice. It was subtle and only someone with an axe to grind would find anything particularly controversial about it.

Just goes to show you how far the "religious right" and "moral majority" have hijacked spiritual messages in the manner of the evil puritans of Cromwell's England. Wankers.



Liv, I can only get a page to the NY Times log-in page, which is refusing my log-in (even though I'm logged in to NY Times on a different page) and so I can get to the article you've linked to. I'd very much like to read it, so do you have another link? ....ooops, never mind - got it now. :)

[viscousmemories]

Thanks for the petition link, wildy. I read about this in the Dallas newspaper this morning and found it pretty disturbing. I was surprised to read both that ABC refused to air the ad on it's broadcast networks because they refuse all religious advertising (I didn't know that) and that Fox was the only non-cable network that actually aired the ad (given everything I've heard about Fox being a bastion of conservativism).

Anyway I've signed the petition. I'm appalled that this ad was refused, given the very positive humanistic message and the quantity of utterly valueless content on TV overall.

[livius drusus]

Here is a link (http://interactive.pfaw.org/images/cbs_fax.jpg) to CBS's fax from earlier this year, in which it states its reasons for denying the ad.

You were totally right about the prosyletizing excuse, wildy. Frankly, the enture justification is incoherent. I've clipped it and uploaded it for easy reading.

http://www.freethought-forum.com/images/cbs.jpg

How the hell those Mormon adds qualify as secular messages that are beneficial to society in general, I surely don't know. I can't specifically recall if I've seen such ads on CBS/UPN, though, and in any case, that argument's moot on account of the even worse argument in the first para. :rolleye1:

Other interesting info from the UCC about the apparent "misunderstanding" (http://www.stillspeaking.com/news/release3.html).

Very interesting. That whole area of media buyers and affiliate v. mothership is totally nebulous to me. Isn't there a significant amount of local control of affiliate programming? Are they bound by CBS' rejection? Either way, there seem to be some yawning communication chasms between them. :shrug:

[Shake]

Yeah, I just saw the ad recently (on one of the ABC stations) and thought it was pretty nice actually. I mean, the ad isn't specifically attacking some other church (by name anyway). If your church is offended by this ad, perhaps it should rethink its policies, IMHO.

[Godless Dave]

Trying to avoid contraversy my ass. I saw a commercial for an LDS video last night (on TBS, I think) that spoke of a man being spoken to by God centuries after Jesus, obviously referring to Joseph Smith. This is a purely Mormon belief that other Christian churches vehemently disagree with, but I guess it doesn't generate as many angry phone calls as homosexuality. Cowardly dishonest fucks (the TV networks, not the LDS church, necessarily).

[Goliath]

I was surprised to read both that ABC refused to air the ad on it's broadcast networks because they refuse all religious advertising (I didn't know that)...

Yep. My respect for ABC increased significantly after I learned that.

[seebs]

Trying to avoid contraversy my ass. I saw a commercial for an LDS video last night (on TBS, I think) that spoke of a man being spoken to by God centuries after Jesus, obviously referring to Joseph Smith. This is a purely Mormon belief that other Christian churches vehemently disagree with, but I guess it doesn't generate as many angry phone calls as homosexuality. Cowardly dishonest fucks (the TV networks, not the LDS church, necessarily).

Actually, many churches believe in ongoing revelation.

[Godless Dave]

I guess I didn't really know that. Regardless, I'm sure the free video they offered to send you in this commercial only contained the Mormon message.

[Corwin]

I've actually been wondering about the mormon angle for a while now.... I'm pretty sure I've seen LDS commercials on both ABC and CBS recently.

[Godless Dave]

I saw the ad for the first time last night, once on ABC Family and once on Comedy Central. It's pretty funny: two nightclub bouncers are stationed outside a church. They let some people through the velvet rope but tell others they can't go in.

[Nex]

That UCC ad is on our local Fox network all the time. All. The. Time.

It was funny the first few times, but now it's just annoying. Kind of like the cellphone "Can you hear me now?" ad. :bleh: