Procter & Gamble Seeks Input on BET, MTV Advertising

CLINTON, April 29: The
world’s biggest advertiser, Procter & Gamble, has established a toll-free
hotline in the U.S. seeking input from consumers about its sponsorship of music
video shows on BET and MTV that market “adult-themed content.”

The move follows the
release of The Rap on Rap study
on urban music video content during BET’s Rap City and 106 and Park and MTV’s Sucker Free, released by the Parents Television Council and
the Enough Is Enough Campaign in Entertainment. The study revealed the highest
degree of explicit adult content on programs with a large 18 and under
viewership in the history of the Parents Television Council. The study
maintains that there were 1,342 instances of “offensive/adult content” in 14
hours of programming analyzed last month, for an average of 95.8 instances per
hour, 1.6 instances per minute or one instanced every 38 seconds.

According to the report,
the top advertiser on the three shows surveyed was Procter & Gamble with 78
ads within 27.5 hours of programming. The Enough is Enough Campaign is urging
Procter & Gamble to remove its commercials from select music video programs
on BET and MTV; programs that the campaign says “glorify violence and criminal
behavior, promote drug use and drug dealing, sexually objectify women, and
portray Black and Latino men as pimps, gangsters and thugs.”

P&G customers can call
the hotline to provide input on whether they want the company to change its
advertising on BET and MTV.

—By Mansha Daswani