Sooner or later, my kid is gonna ask me why we have two side-by-side bath tubs on a hill behind our backyard.
Congressman Jim Moran of Virginia is warning the makers of Viagra, Levitra and Cialis to tone down the constant flow of erectile dysfuntion ads they show on television, especially during primetime and sporting events. Moran explains: “Parents should be able to watch a football game with their kids without having to either mute the television or explain the side effects of a life enhancement drug.”
Of course, one of the ironies here is that ads for these products are absolutely relentless during political news shows. Nightly, I find myself watching a show called Hardball that is interrupted almost exclusively by ads encouraging me to either try out a week’s supply of ExtenZe (“No Gimmick … Just Real Science!”) or start my own Alpaca Farm. Is it any wonder that I now spend much of my time scanning the web for physical and mental health remedies?
These drug makers spend hundreds of millions a year in marketing, and as long as we’re stuck in the recession, I don’t see any way Washington is really going to try to get them to tone anything down. In fact, if this entire debate lasts longer than 4 hours, call your representative.
