I don't want to see it

I, like many others, enjoyed watching the first full weekend of NFL football, as well as the second weekend of college football. Watching live sports is, at times, a true joy to behold. There's no script and no one knows how it's going to turn out. However, one thing got me upset this weekend. It was an advertisement. Now, normally, I use TiVo and don't deal with commercials, but this is live programming, and I was watching in real time, so that option wasn't available to me.

When I tell you what upset me, you'll probably call me backwards or reactionary or something, and, I'll admit, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm now a dad (despite the fact that this isn't an issue...yet).

So, what is this horrible ad, this terrible waste of video bandwidth? Glad you asked! It's Cialis and Viagra, the venerable magic pills of manhood. Commercials for these products are far from new and the various methods that they use are pretty standard for big companies. Here's my issue: These commercials openly talk about sex and smear themselves all over the airwaves during the middle of the day on a weekend, during pro football games. While I would agree that they certainly are hitting their target audience, I would argue that they are hitting sensitive audiences a bit too hard.

What do I mean by this?

I mean that young boys who watch football along with their dads, uncles and brothers (aunts, moms, and sisters too), who run outside at recess to throw the football around, who play pee-wee football in hopes of someday playing for a great team, who look up to their favorite NFL players as role models and heroes, are being exposed to monologues like this, repeatedly, over the 3 hours of a regular football game.

"Cialis is only for men healthy enough for sexual activity....Erections lasting more than four hours, though rare, require immediate medical help."

Normally, these ads show couples walking along a beach or some inane activity, however, for some reason I was particularly disturbed to see one of the most recent commercials where the man and woman started throwing stuff off of a coffee table, presumably to "clear some space." Like all ads, the shot pans out and we see no more, but seriously, how much do we really have to see? Can we assume that the next ad will show a strip tease?

Along another tangent, does anyone else find it odd that ads for hard liquor cannot be shown until after primetime, but ads for ED medication can be shown practically around the clock?

Before we go any further, let's get one thing straight. I'm not a prude. I have absolutely no problems with these ads later in the evening and I've been a big fan of steel pan music way before it was hijacked by Girls Gone Wild videos. My issue again is this: Drug Companies: You are peddling a product whose sole purpose is to get your customer laid, a dignified, ego laced lay to be sure, but once again, your product is exclusively a tool for having sex. Why must you peddle your wares in front of children watching their heroes accomplish amazing things on the field.

I would refer my child to you for the birds-and-bees talk, since you brought it up, but as we've demonstrated here, your judgment is somewhat questionable.