C'mon let the pigs fly (and let 'em get lucky)

Perhaps I'm too liberal to see the fuss over this condom commercial (featured below as well). Or perhaps the fuss is as silly as flying pigs. Especially since the commercial's pigs are so cute (!) and underscore Trojan's new messaging strategy of "Evolve" which stresses "America is not a sexually healhty nation...it's time we evolve. Use a condom every time."

Sure, it's in Trojan's best interests that everyone use a (Trojan) condom every time but it's in the best interest of the public, too. Currently we have 1 in 4 Americans acquiring an STD by age 25 and each year 1 billion acts of unprotected sex acts among single adults. Btw, I get how they arrive at the first statistic...but how do they arrive at the second one? (I just wonder how many truthfully answer these sex surveys.)

The commercial will run on ABC, NBC and nine cable networks, including MTV, Comedy Central and Adult Swim. Print ads will appear in 11 magazines and on seven Web sites. But Fox and CBS would not allow it finding it "inappropriate, even for late-night programming."

According to the commercial's creators: “We have to change the perception that carrying a condom for women or men is a sign they’re on the prowl and just want to have sex,” said Linda Kaplan Thaler, chief executive of the Kaplan Thaler Group, the New York advertising agency that created the “Evolve” campaign. “It’s a sign of somebody being prepared — if the opportunity arises — to think about their own health and the health and safety of their partner.”

Here are some more comments from the NYTimes article:

From Trojan Condoms: “The ‘Evolve’ ad does a nice job of being humorous, but it’s also a serious call to action,” Mr. Daniels, VP of Marketing for Trojan, said. “The pigs are a symbol of irresponsible sexual behavior, and are juxtaposed with the condom as a responsible symbol of respect for oneself and one’s partner.”

From NYU: “It’s so hypocritical for any network in this culture to go all puritanical on the subject of condom use when their programming is so salacious,” said Mark Crispin Miller, a media critic who teaches at New York University. 'I mean, let’s get real here. Fox and CBS and all of them are in the business of nonstop soft porn, but God forbid we should use a condom in the pursuit of sexual pleasure.'”

From Lifestyles Condoms: “We always find it funny that you can use sex to sell jewelry and cars, but you can’t use sex to sell condoms,” said Carol Carrozza, vice president of marketing for Ansell Healthcare, which makes LifeStyles condoms. “When you’re marketing condoms, something even remotely suggestive gets an overly analytical eye when it’s going before networks’ review boards.”

Sorry I couldn't cite quotes from CBS and FOX but all they gave the reporter was "no comment."

I find this to be more responsible than not being it stresses using protection every time--and being the current campaigns aren't working. You really need to see it for yourself (sorry I couldn't find it yet on YouTube, I found it, it's below or RSS readers go here). Let me know if you think the pigs should be allowed to fly or not.

Disclaimer: No, if Trojan offered me a 6-month supply of free condoms I wouldn't accept them...but if you come to NYC we'll give 'em to you for free.

Update: DameNation asks a great question on her blog "So why is it OK for a Viagra ad to be about sex but not a condom ad, you might wonder?" (note: I'm pretty sure CBS and FOX allow Viagra commercials and the like, but I can't be sure being I haven't been watching much TV..and far fewer commercials...as of late).

Comments

[Mike]

That took brass ...uh, Titleist's to write !

I don't watch but a few minutes of TV per week, only golf or the Food Network, but I don't want to see any pigs, unless Bobby Flay's burnin' 'em and I don't care to see any condom ads at all.

I say put the pigs in the smoker and keep the wraps wrapped up in the personal products section of whatever store you happen to frequent.

I don't buy Jaguars because of TV ads and people won't start using .... those things, because of TV ads either.

If commercials worked, we'd all be speed-readers, slim, smart and drive fast cars, while eatin' fewer carbs and using Bowflex's !

[Bob Glaza]

“We always find it funny that you can use sex to sell jewelry and cars, but you can’t use sex to sell condoms,”

Let 'em fly - but that's just my opinion. I'm a big pig fan :)

[Ryan Karpeles]

Love the NYU teacher's comment. Fox and CBS are either being hypocritical, naive, or both.

Sex happens. Let's deal with it in a mature way, and realize that there are things we can do to help. Fox and CBS are like little kids covering their faces and yelling, "Make it go away!"

Either they don't care about the problem, or they're too wimpy to take a stand. Either way, it's incredibly disappointing.

[Nat_Nudge]

CK. Don't worry. You're not too liberal. Not sure what you could possibly object to in this commercial. Pigs? (Perhaps an antagonistic male might raise the object of comparing men to pigs - despite their cuteness).
Remember, hypocrisy is our individual right.
Perhaps it’s good to remember that this is an add target to the below 35's - being banned form CBS is not all that bad. Just think how many of the 14-35 year age bracket will watch the clip online now. Thanks for the opinion

[Cam Beck]

CK - You know my feelings on the matter... No cute marketing trick is going to make people overcome what they are hard wired to do unless doing so makes the act serve the need they were trying to serve better than doing it without the condom would do for them.

That said, I must agree with NYU and Ryan that Fox, in particular, is being supremely hypocritical. I'm not saying this decision is wrong, necessarily, but that it is impossible that Fox would know it.

Also, I find it a touch ironic that the tagline for the campaign is premised on the concept of natural selection when the product is supposed to entirely prevent procreation.

[CK]

Hi folks:

@Mike: Thanks. I will say tha, while not always, commercials can and have influenced my buying decisions...in this case I'm hoping it influences healthy behavior. We'll see if it works.

@Bob: Yep, those pigs sure are cute. At the Trojan site you can see the making of the video with all the pigs...check it out (http://www.trojanevolve.com)

@Ryan: Yep, the NYU teach's comment is my favorite but the VP from LifeStyles shows the hypocrisy of not being able to push sex in a commercial for a sex product but being allowed to in other products.

@Nat: Thanks so much for your comments, I'm really enjoying them. Yep, CBS is older/grayer and FOX is conservative BUT, remember, it's FOX that started "Melrose Place" which was ALL ABOUT sex, ya know? Hey, is AU as conservative as here with the advertising on condoms and the like? I'm curious.

@Cam: Great catch with the irony on the tagline/campaign premise. Ha!

[Lewis Green]

I think the ads are both harmless and ineffective in terms of getting people who currently don't use condoms to start using them. On the other hand, Trojan may increase its market share.

I understand why FOX doesn't run the ads: Doing so would upset many if not most of their viewers. Can't imagine CBS's take on this.

[JKoh]

Not to break off topic, but this is killin me - anyone know if this is/was a song beyond the commercial? If so, who did it?

thank ya greatly!!!

please email, as I'm sure I'll forget I posted this, did so after seeing the ad on TV.

etherealgift@aol.com

[CK]

@Jkoh: Go to www.trojanevolve.com and click on “making the commercial”…I don’t know if that will answer your question but it might as they do feature a “making of” there. Hope that helped and it is a fun song.