• Ad Age, Tuesday, September 18, 2007 11 AM

While there has been a big jump in sexual content on TV, with a new CBS show about swingers, contraceptive makers still face problems getting air time. According to one conservative group, sexual references are up 22% during early prime time when compared to the same slot six years ago. A 2005 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation claimed the number of sexual scenes on the tube has almost doubled since 1998.

The new CBS series "Swingtown," would seem a new natural fit for condom marketers as it is about two generations of friends and neighbors who explore new freedoms in the midst of the socio/sexual revolution. Says executive producer Carol Barbee, "It's about sexual freedom, but because it's set in the '70s, it's not about sexual responsibility." Earlier this year, an ad campaign for Trojan condoms was rejected by CBS and Fox because of concerns about the creative, which featured anthropomorphic pigs rebuffed by comely women until one buys a condom and morphs into a handsome man.

Both networks decline comment about policies on condom ads but say they will take them, no matter whether they emphasize contraception or disease prevention. But Fox told Trojan it rejected the spot because "contraceptive advertising must stress health-related uses rather than the prevention of pregnancy." The ad ran without problems on NBC, ABC and MTV.

Read the whole story at Ad Age »