Three L.A. Stations Bar Condom Ad

Three L.A. television stations have refused to show a television commercial for soft-rock radio station KLIT-FM (101.9) that encourages the use of condoms, charging that it is in bad taste and promotes promiscuity. Four other TV stations are broadcasting it.

The commercial opens with the sound of Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” and the camera zooms in on a smiling woman putting on earrings in preparation for a date. At the bottom of the screen are the words: “Never go to bed on the first date.” The visual fades and the screen is filled with only the words “Always wear a condom.” The next frame is also dark with only the words “And, above all, avoid playing this song.” Then a bride and groom are shown dancing at their wedding with the words, “Or this could happen to you.”

KABC-TV Channel 7, KNBC Channel 4 and KTLA Channel 5 refused to run the commercial. It was submitted to them for approval in early October, before Magic Johnson’s disclosure last Thursday that he had contracted the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

“We just didn’t think they were in good enough taste to be broadcast on the station,” said KABC General Manager Terry Crofoot.

KCBS Channel 2, KCAL Channel 9, KTTV Channel 11 and KCOP Channel 13 all accepted the ad and have been running it. But Bill Emerson, KNBC’s manager of broadcast standards and practices, agreed with Crofoot.

“ ‘Never go to bed on the first date and use a condom’ does not address itself solely to disease prevention,” Emerson said. “That to me is encouraging promiscuity. Because it seems to imply that you can go (to bed) on the second date or third date. Our policy says we cannot encourage sexual activity.”

Andrew Lozano, KTLA broadcast standards manager, said that the station might reconsider its decision in the wake of the heightened public concern about AIDS after the Johnson disclosure.

“Commercials in reference to a condom we do not use,” Lozano said. “It’s station policy. But in light of current events, things may possibly change.”

KLIT General Manager Bill Ward defended the ad, saying he doesn’t believe it encourages promiscuity.

“We gave considerable thought to it,” he said. “We’re presenting these spots to draw attention to our radio station and if it raises social awareness, that’s a bonus. It’s done kind of tongue-in-cheek and I think we could use a little bit of that right now.”

Eric Haggman, writer-creator of the commercials and president of Haggman-Krimsky, the Ipswich, Mass.-based advertising agency that conceived the ad campaign, said he was shocked by the refusal of the television stations to run the ad.

“I’m sort of dumbfounded by the reaction,” Haggman said. “To me it seems like a sort of hollow morality. A good morality is one that preserves life and cares about people. . . . We just wanted to treat the word condom as part of our everyday language. I’ve seen condom ads on TV. It was also a little bit of commentary on the dating mores of our times. This is something people have on their minds. It wasn’t really anything more than just talking about our lives the way our lives are really lived. We were really surprised that, especially in Los Angeles, stations would object to that.”

Officials at KCOP Channel 13 agreed that the commercial proffered sound advice.

“It’s relayed in good taste and we’re definitely behind it,” said Sandy Crespo Ivy, KCOP administrator of broadcast standards and public service. “The message is one that needs to get to the public. The feeling is one of using caution.”

The controversial ad is one in a series of five 30-second commercials intended to show the emotional connections between popular songs and people’s lives, Haggman said.

“We feel that people’s memories are kind of inextricably tied to the songs in their lives and we just wanted to reflect that,” he said.

KABC and KNBC have also refused to air another one of the five commercials because it contains the phrase damn it.