“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




  1. harold says:

    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.

  2. Higghawker says:

    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.

  3. derspankster says:

    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.

  4. SparkyOne says:

    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.

  5. billabong says:

    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.

  6. bobbo says:

    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.

  7. Greg Allen says:

    What a Moran.

  8. #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.

  9. meetsy says:

    #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.

  10. Mike says:

    “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech”

  11. #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.

  12. Montanaguy says:

    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?

  13. John E. Quantum says:

    #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.

  14. qsabe says:

    Daddy is mom screwing the guy next door because the you have erectile dysfunction like the nice men on the TV. Can I go and see their hard ons for my self, huh, can I daddy?

  15. MikeN says:

    I always thought you were making a reference to some long ago joke about this guy when you say ‘moran.’

  16. John Paradox says:

    # 3 Eric said,
    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.
    Boomers, face it, you’re old. Get over it and start a woodworking hobby.

    That’s the problem, Boomers are trying to ‘work their wood’….

    😉

    J/P=?

  17. Grandpa says:

    Let’s get rid of those Tampax commercials too. Don’t you just love it when they go into every gory detail about why they work better. If hemorrhoid commercials were half as detailed, we’d all be puking.

  18. RSweeney says:

    Moran should never have changed the second o in his name to an a.

  19. brm says:

    What is with everyone here wanting to ban all drug ads?

    An argument can be made that drug ads have helped people get treatment for conditions they otherwise would never think were problems. Things like acid reflux, restless leg syndrome, depression, etc.

    These are real problems that some people would just go on living with, because they didn’t think it was abnormal.

    We’re all adults. I don’t really care if you run out and demand a drug for a condition you don’t have.

  20. morram says:

    Hey Eric, if you want to get women just drink cheap American beer like Dud or Miner.

    I was getting three magazines in the mail. All of a sudden each one had boner ads, full page in one and the other two had a bunch of those small ones in the back. I really liked my classic truck mag so I wrote an email. Crap I got a reply back telling me how lame I was and how much money the make a boner people were paying. I scanned that full page ad, changed all the testimony names to people from the magazine, even photoshopped the editor picture into the add with the gal on his lap. Googled the crap out of it with keywords and got another ehatemail. They no longer run the boner ads. The price has gone up a bit but I’d rather pay than see limps

  21. Buzz says:

    They just need a new term for it.

    Erectile Dysfunction is too blatant. Boner Syndrome or Little Johnston Complex might work better. Dick’s Disease is a little harsh, but Willie Wonkitis might be fun.

    It’s all in how you label it.

  22. RBG says:

    It’s sexual abuse of children. There’s no “age appropriate” explanation needed for kids about ED.

    RBG

  23. Uncle Patso says:

    It’s a good thing all my grandparents (and for that matter, my parents) are dead: they’d all have strokes and die anyway if they saw some of the stuff on TV these days.

    Almost as bad as the “ARE YOU A LIMP-DICK? DO YOU HAVE A CHILLY WILLY? ARE YOU (echo on) LESS THAN A MAN?” ads are the ones with Andrea Martin (SCTV, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Kim Possible) sounding just SO HAPPY to be telling you about the horrible things this new drug might do to you, but how HAPPY you’ll be. The drug I’m most afraid of is the one that makes her sound like that!

    It’s no wonder more and more people are going online instead of turning on the TV. Yay, Hulu!

  24. brm says:

    “It’s a good thing all my grandparents (and for that matter, my parents) are dead: they’d all have strokes and die anyway if they saw some of the stuff on TV these days.”

    Bullshit. They’d be like, ‘give me some of those dick pills!’

    You know it – they liked to hump.

  25. Mr. Fusion says:

    I say dump all drug advertising. If drug companies need to sell more drugs, they can do it the old fashioned way, bribe the Doctors.

    And please, get rid of those , ahem, “Male Enhancement” scams and “Girls Gone Wild” videos. Nothing makes me turn off the TV late at night more than those ads do.

  26. Lou says:

    Send him a free script and he will shut up.

  27. Ashley L. says:

    I completely agree with the congressman. I think that it’s disgusting that it was ever on in the first place. Even if they don’t ban it completely they should at least make it so it is only shown at a time when under 18’s are less likly to be watching / listening.


0

Bad Behavior has blocked 5942 access attempts in the last 7 days.