As the number one advertising tool in the United States, television commercials can span anything and everything. And in the past, they have. Commercials have come a long way from selling baking soda, to selling sex. Not just the XXX stuff that is seen on late night television, but in other commercials as well.
For example if there is an advertisement for skin lotion, the advertisers will show a practically naked woman rubbing lotion on her legs. Some car commercials advertising brakes for a car show a scantly clad woman hitchhiking with two cars rolling up. The one with the better brakes gets the woman. That year, for that particular brand of brakes, sales totals went up because the young adult gentlemen thought they would get a nice looking woman hitchhiking if they could brake right.
Another commercial, that would be some cause for concern, would be all the commercials for supplements to help your sex life along a more enjoyable path. That is a topic that should be kept between your doctor and yourself. No one wants to see that flashing during the break of a church sermon!
Nowadays it’s commonplace for numerous commercials to sell their products through using sexual overtones. Parents no longer shield their children’s eyes from such intimate moments that should be kept in a bedroom. Should companies limit the amount of skin shown on television commercials? Probably so. Will they even listen to anyone about covering up their models? Probably not, because of the simple fact that sex sells. It sells on the streets, and it sells from the television set that sits in the middle of your living room. It is an accepted fact of life for most people.
However, the ratings on television are also changing, so parents, those that still care what their young children watch, can no longer block certain things that are shown in shows throughout the day. Television commercials are completely out of blocking range because there is not even a system in place for commercials, where you can block anything.
So, while your child is entranced in a nice, PG rated television show, there is a good possibility that a commercial will come around that is flashing blondes with blue eyes raising their shirts to a bunch of aroused, drunk guys. The scene depicts that it’s cool to do this action, and the girls egg it on, with actions and statements that urge the drunken men to call a telephone number if they want a good time.
What ten year old boy or girl wants to watch that? Who will be blamed when the children get curious, and carry out a daily routine they have done a thousand times by answering their telephone at home, and hear that sort of comment come across to them. Chances are they will want to answer that phone again to see what else people have to say. They are innocent enough to not know fraud, and promptly reply with the requested information of a credit card number and expiration date when a telemarketer calls their house. When does it end, that our children have to suffer the consequences caused by television commercials? If companies will not censor their commercials, then they should, at the very least, create a censor for commercials, for overly worried parents.