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End the trust soap opera!
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CBCP Monitor - Lifeguard Column
by Nicolo Bernardo
DO you remember the live broadcast of the Pacquaio-Barrerra Boxing event? It was viewed nationwide by all ages and audiences. But a different knock-out might had happened on teenagers watching, with the advertisement of Trust “Premier” condom featuring a “KingKong” look-alike and a seductive female along.
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If you find this still subtle, there’s another Trust “Frenzy” condom ad deliberately targeting the youth. It features two young models (“bagets”) picking up what flavor of condom to use.
Yet again another Trust Contraceptive Pill ad features Winnie Cordero promoting the use of pills for clearing pimples. Prescription drugs such as pills are now being touted as a cosmetic product!
These television ads consistently appear on general patronage, sandwiched in prime-time programs day in and day out, as well as on cable TV with shows for young audiences. The characters are themselves young, as if drawing young consumers to entertain using condoms, and the casual-sex message the advertisements are showing.
Meanwhile, on both AM and FM radio, especially stations popular to students and young people, it is being repeatedly aired: “’Pag nag-happy tour, magdala ng Trust condom.”
If you have been keen on the television and the radio, the Trust ad series seems to last for eternity.
Concerned civil groups cannot just take these kinds of ads sitting. Led by legal counsel Jo Aurea Imbong, herself a mother, civil groups consisting of parents, family advocates, educators, civic leaders, and the BUHAY party-list filed a suit before the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) and the ADBOARD. The broadcasting of Trust ads has violated, among others, the Television Code which states that “Sex and all matters related to it shall be treated with the greatest of care and utmost good taste. Premarital sex and extra-marital sex shall never be condoned or justified.” (A-3, Program Endorsement of promiscuity). That “illicit sexual relations or any form of perversion shall never be presented as good, attractive, or as inevitable in the sense of being beyond correction, reform or retribution” (Program Standards). Further, “a network/station shall exercise special caution in the schedule of commercials which might not be suitable for children. Such commercials shall not be placed within or near programs designed for children” (Advertising Standards- Responsibility of the Network).
In the Advertising Code’s General Provisions, it is also stated that “No pharmaceutical product may be advertised unless it has been duly registered with the BFAD. Only non-prescription drugs may be advertised in the mass media; prescription drugs can only be advertised through publications solely intended for the medical and allied professions.” (Article VI, Section l. Presentation). This Code applies to hormonal contraceptives such as pills and injectables which are prescription drugs. In other countries in fact, such as in Singapore and the United States, contraceptive advertisements can only be broadcast with a “warning” about their side effects, just like in cigarettes.
Let me present too the position paper that I gave as pro-life youth representative and first speaker in the press conference held on January 21, 2008 at Max’s-Intramuros. It is titled, End the Trust Soap Opera! I hope other concerned citizens would also join us, make themselves heard, and follow suit.
“We are calling on the ADBOARD and the KBP to please put an end to the television and radio series of Trust contraceptive advertisements. We are being bombarded program after program by these unusually lengthy ads that also portray young adults buying condoms like candies. Let us be sensitive that the media avenues and time slots of these advertisements are on general patronage. These ads are being seen and heard by children of all ages, including your children or grandchildren. That include kids and teenagers below the age of discretion and responsible “consumer choice.” Contraceptives are not suitable for all ages; so neither are their intensive advertisements.”
“We also appeal for a comprehensive review of all contraceptive ads. The people, as target consumers, need to know the side effects of these prescription products, especially hormonal contraceptives such as estrogen-progestogen pills labeled by the World Health Organization as Group-1 carcinogenic (Press Release No. 167, July 29, 2005). May we also cite pertinent sections in the Republic Act 8504, or the Philippine Aids Prevention and Control Act of 1998, which penalizes information on prophylactics that assumes their fail-safe efficacy without stressing the values of sexual abstinence and mutual fidelity, and other claims not approved by the Department of Health and the Bureau of Food and Drugs:”
SECTION 10. Information on Prophylactics – Appropriate information shall be attached to provide with every prophylactic offered for sale or given as a donation xxx on its efficacy against HIV and STD infection, as well as the importance of sexual abstinence and mutual fidelity.
SECTION 11. Penalties for Misleading Information – Misinformation on HIV/AIDS prevention and control through false and misleading advertising and claims in any of the tri-media or the promotional marketing of drugs, devices, agents or procedures without prior approval from the Department of Health and Bureau of Food and Drugs and the requisite medical and scientific basis, including markings and indications in drugs and devices or agents, purporting to be a cure or a fail-safe prophylactic for HIV infection is punishable with a penalty of imprisonment for two (2) months to 2 (2) years, without prejudice to the imposition of administrative sanctions such as fines and suspension or revocation of professional or business license.
“Please know that many TV viewers and radio listeners are being offended by the “casual-sex” lifestyle these ads indiscriminately endorse. Let us help each other put a stop to these condom and pill ads altogether.”
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