• The New York Times, Tuesday, June 19, 2007 10:30 AM

A commercial for Trojan condoms featuring women in a bar surrounded by anthropomorphized pigs has been rejected for broadcast by both CBS and Fox. The tagline: "Evolve. Use a condom every time." In the spot, one of the pigs heads to the men's room and gets a condom from a vending machine, only to be changed into a handsome fellow -- and gets the attention of a previously indifferent blond.

"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 agency behind the 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."

While both networks had taken previous Trojan campaigns that urged condom use for disease prevention, they turned this one down. While they admit they refused the ad, neither would publicly explain why. But in a letter to Trojan, Fox says that "contraceptive advertising must stress health-related uses rather than the prevention of pregnancy."

Read the whole story at The New York Times »