So ABC is taking flak for airing a "controversial" segment promoting "Desperate Housewives" prior to Monday night football this week.
Cross promotion of any kind is sleazy. Americans get enough advertising rammed down our throats anyways; we don't need promotions on top of promotions.
But all the fuss about indecency is unwarranted.
77% of ESPN fans surveyed about the "Desperate" plug either thought it was funny or didn't care. In other words, the vast majority of the Monday night football demographic is not overly sensitive or uptight.
The same people that take an ESPN survey are likely to be the same crowd watching football during prime time. Therefore, small children and timid religious types were less likely to be watching. So it isn't their time to gripe.
What we are witnessing, once again, is a small but potent minority of sensitive "values" types trying to impose a shelterd mindset on society as a whole. My mantra is this, "If you don't like it, you don't need to watch it." But trying to impose a generally clean mandate on all television as a whole is a bad idea. Different programs pander to different demographics and that should be respected.
Every demographic shouldn't have to walk the super conservative line all the time because a handful of people are itching to be insulted.
Besides this is football, not soccer, not church -- it ain't for the faint of heart or the weak spirited. It's high impact pain and competition where scantily clad women (cheerleaders) are part of the show. Taking sexy women away from football is like taking alcohol out of casinos -- they complement each other, maybe for the worse, but there's a relationship there and these things have their place.
If you don't like a dose of sex appeal with your football,you can always watch Walker Texas Ranger or Laci Peterson brain candy on some other channel. Exercise your right to avoid being insulted -- change the channel, not the sensitivity standard.
Keep your laws off my sleazy programming!
Respond to John
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