From California
After listening to complaints from scores of fed-up parents, San Francisco’s Common
Sense Media released a report today on the content of ads shown during NFL broadcasts.
The report, Broadcast Dysfunction: Sex, Violence, Alcohol and the NFL, looked at ads in
more than 50 games from this season and found it was impossible to watch a single
game without coming up against sex, violence,
or Viagra®. 
 
                                   

“Nearly 5.3 million kids watch football each week,* yet one in six of the ads shown
during the broadcasts features content that’s wildly inappropriate for kids –– that’s
every other commercial break, ” said founder and CEO of Common Sense Media,
James Steyer. “The game of football is great fun for families, but it can be really
awkward for parents when they have to explain erectile dysfunction on a Sunday
afternoon, or have to dive for the remote during violent promos for network shows.
I know we speak for millions of football fans and parents everywhere when we
say this situation is really getting ridiculous.” 

   "I wasn’t too happy with ads for erectile-dysfunction drugs popping up every 
   15 minutes whenever I watched a football game with my daughters in the room." 
                                                                                      
                                                                   Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope, 2006


Common Sense Media’s report found that 40 percent of the games included ads for
Viagra® and Cialis®; nearly 500 of the ads involved gun fights, explosions, and murders;
and 80 advertisements involved significant levels of sexuality, including scenes featuring
prostitution and strippers. Nearly half (44.7 percent) of the violent or sexual ads were
promos by the networks for their own programs. In addition, 300 of the ads were for
alcohol. “Football teaches kids a lot of great lessons –– that's one of the reasons I'm
proud to have played in the NFL for 14 years,” said Ronnie Lott, former San Francisco 49er
and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “But families like mine should be able to
watch these games without worrying that their kids will be bombarded with adult ads. There's
a time and place for things, and Sunday afternoon isn't it. This is our game, and everyone
involved with the NFL should be accountable for making it fun for families.” “The good
news is it wouldn’t take too much effort to cut out the inappropriate content in commercials,”
continued Steyer. “With so many families tuning in to so-called ‘America’s Game,’ we just
want the networks and the league to do the right thing. And they can do that with just a little
bit of self-restraint and common sense.” 


                                                         
                                                      WHAT ABOUT HALF TIME?

Common Sense Media urges parents to make their voices heard to make NFL
broadcasts more appropriate for kids:
• Parents should visit www.commonsensemedia.org/bad-ads to email the NFL
 Commissioner with their concerns about adult content in advertisements.
• Watch with their kids and find teachable moments among the content. Talk
 about some of the ads you see together. To help those conversations along,
 parents can register at Common Sense Media for tips, tricks and resources
 to help balance their family’s media diet.

The full text of the report is available here. To see samples of the types of ads
uncovered in this report, visit www.commonsensemedia.org/bad-ads.