Ads That Shatter an Old Taboo

By Anastasia Toufexis

AIDS, the terrifying disease. Condoms, the most widely available safeguard against the spread of the sexually transmitted illness. Those combined facts have shattered the long-held taboo against advertising such prophylactics on broadcast television. While some cable systems have carried condom commercials, ABC, CBS and NBC have steadfastly refused, contending that the ads would offend some communities. No local station would broadcast them either -- until now. First San Francisco's KRON-TV, an NBC affiliate, announced it would end its ban, and plans to start airing three 15-second spots for Trojan condoms in February. "Someone had to break the ice," said Station General Manager James Smith. Cracking the ice some more, WXYZ, the ABC affiliate in Detroit, followed KRON's lead, and will broadcast a 30-second ad for LifeStyles condoms this week. Ansell International, maker of LifeStyles, says the same spot will soon appear on another ABC affiliate, WRTV in Indianapolis.

The stations have established restrictions. The commercials will not be shown during children's programming hours; condoms cannot be promoted as a birth-control device (as they have been on cable); and the ads must be in good taste. Tastes vary. The LifeStyles ad that will air on the Midwest stations, for example, is quite direct. "Because of AIDS, I'm afraid," states a young woman. "AIDS isn't just a gay disease. It's everybody's disease. And everybody who gets it dies. The Surgeon General says proper use of condoms can reduce your risk . . . I'll do a lot for love. But I'm not ready to die for it." In contrast, the Trojan commercials accepted by KRON are so muted as to be cryptic. "I'm 24, single and worried," says the clean-cut young man in one ad. "I'm a nice guy. I go out with nice girls. These days, some pretty terrible things are happening to some really nice people." Only one of the Trojan spots uses the word condom, and none mention AIDS. (A unique KRON stricture: during a six-month trial, any prophylactics advertiser must match the money it spends for airtime with a donation to AIDS research; KRON will donate its revenues from the ads.)

- The print media have been led by the AIDS epidemic to ease their codes. Among those reversing their policies: Gentleman's Quarterly, the New York Times, Newsweek, Time Inc.-owned magazines, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report and Vogue.

In San Francisco, which has a large homosexual population and an especially serious AIDS problem, response to KRON's pioneering decision has been supportive; only two of 100 viewers who called the station immediately after the announcements objected. "The public must accept certain realities about AIDS, and one of the most important is simply that condoms save lives," says Homosexual Activist Harry Britt, a member of the San Francisco board of supervisors. The Roman Catholic archdiocese lodged the strongest complaint. "America is bound and determined to make sex as casual and unsupportive as shaking hands," protests Father Miles O'Brien Riley, spokesman for the archdiocese.

Prophylactics manufacturers, whose sales are expected to jump by 10%, to $110 million this year, contend that their ads promote not promiscuity but responsible sexual practices. TV viewers may be ready to agree. Harriette Robinet, 55, of Oak Park, Ill., admits that she is "squeamish" about the idea of condom ads on prime time but thinks today's young adults need the information. Says she: "It's all very pathetic, but it's necessary."

With reporting by Leslie Whitaker/New York and Dennis Wyss/San Francisco