Tearing the Tissue

Stouthearted TV viewers have watched 1) alleged stomach acid rot a pocket handkerchiei, 2) elderly couples kissing while an announcement reassured the lovers that a special cleanser would keep their dentures pure, 3) corns the size of pumpkins pried out of plaster toes that could belong to the Colossus of Rhodes, 4) alleged liver bile dissolving a dreadful accumulation of fatty particles. Many a broadcaster is beginning to worry about such tasteless commercials.

When the National Association of Broadcasters wrote its Television Code in 1952, the association decided that certain products should not rate air time at all, e.g., hemorrhoid remedies. This spring, when the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company's President Donald McGannon took charge of the N.A.B. code review board, offenders were told to stop talking about hemorrhoids and other such "intimately personal" problems or forfeit the code seal of approval, but 20 stations decided that they could get along without it. Further, McGannon's review board went on to criticize commercials for toilet paper, deodorants, laxatives, etc. In a confidential report shown to station owners and trade associations, McGannon's board finds much amiss with commercials for such privacy products. Items:

LAXATIVES. "The use of words or phrases like 'bloated,' 'gassy,' and 'logy' seems distasteful."

DEODORANTS. "Camera shots or angles which show or almost show the human armpit seem especially distasteful."

DEPILATORIES. "A number of shots of women's legs after successful application of a depilatory seemed more an attempt to arouse the sensual attentions of the television viewer than a demonstration of the efficacy of the product."

TOILET TISSUE. "One commercial which showed an attractive woman purchasing and storing toilet tissue was in excellent taste until the moment she tore the tissue in a close-up shot."

FOUNDATION GARMENTS. "As is well known, the manufacturer's terminology frequently has overtones of sexual innuendo. The 'ectoplasm' technique by which the garment is shown alone in motion probably is the least offensive demonstration method. The employment of an arrow, a dotted line or a pointer to show specific features is far preferable to the human hand."

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