Are Condom Ads Appropriate for Primetime?

This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," June 1, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Two television networks will make history Wednesday night when they broadcast commercials for Trojan-brand condoms during primetime. Now, is this a responsible effort to promote safe sex or ads for such products too hot for TV?

Joining us now is the host of "Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew," debuts June 8th on Discovery Health, Dr. Drew Pinsky.

Dr. Drew, good to see you. Thanks for being with us.

DR. DREW PINSKY, "STRICTLY SEX WITH DR. DREW" HOST: Thank you, gentlemen. Good evening.

COLMES: People get so upset. They hear the word condom, of course, then they think the word sex. But I see it at as a public service. Why not? What's taken so long?

PINSKY: I absolutely agree with you. These ads adhere to broadcast standards. They're not explicitly sexual. They're talking about sexual health issues, sexually transmitted diseases. They are not things aimed at young people. These are not directed at people who are trying to make a choice about sexual behavior. These are for adults who are sexually active to protect their health so they don't become one of the 15 million people every year who contract an STD.

COLMES: I guess in the conservative community, there's this idea that we should be talking only about abstinence. Once you start talking about anything else, you're giving permission to people and encouraging people to do what they shouldn't be doing. That's the attitude.

PINSKY: It's funny. Yes, it's funny how any discussion of sexuality has become an issue of abstinence versus sexual education. The fact is, just because we're talking about responsible sexual behavior, it's a totally separate issue.

Should we eliminate ads about erectile dysfunction, or menopausal treatments that pertain to sexual behaviors because they might bring up the topic of sexuality? This is the one thing we should be doing, is talking about the sexual health aspects of these behaviors.

You know, to me, it's like saying, "Well, gee, we'd better not have any ads about drunk driving because, God knows, if we bring up the idea of drinking, they'll drink, and they're apt to drive. So let's not bring the subject up at all."

COLMES: It's interesting that we have TV shows we see people having sex.

PINSKY: Yes.

COLMES: You don't actually see the act, but you know that that's happening. But you can't have a commercial that talks about preventive measures?

PINSKY: I totally agree. That's exactly the point. The fact is, these adhere to broadcast standards. There are broadcast standards. But in the programming that's out there, there's very little attention given to the consequences of the behaviors that are portrayed there.

At least here we have something that's proactive. It's talking about the reality of the health phenomenon associated with sexual choices, sexual behaviors, amongst adults. We really shouldn't even be having this discussion about young people.

The fact is, there's far too much material, sexual material, on television. That's for sure the case. But there are broadcast standards. We all adhere to them. And at least, in this case, we're talking about something that can prevent disease.

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Hey, Drew, Sean Hannity. You say it's not aimed at young people. How many older folks do you know that are watching the WB network? It's a network that's aimed at young kids. It's not aimed at adults; it's aimed at young kids.

PINSKY: Hey, Sean. Young adults, young adults. And in fact, young adults tend to be more single and more sexually active. And these are the people that are more apt to get a sexually transmitted disease. We're not talking about junior high school and high school age, necessarily. We're talking about young adults.

HANNITY: I don't think you understand the conservative argument very well. I don't really care how you, or Alan, or any liberal raises your kids. I think that's up to you.

I think the concern of conservatives, Drew, is the following. We are over-sexualizing our kids. We are inundating them with sexuality, both on the programming side, and now we have crossed another barrier. Now we're targeting on a young-adult-oriented network, you know, condoms to these kids.

And I'm saying, you know what? There's never any balance here. We're robbing them of their innocence and childhood. That's what conservatives are saying.

PINSKY: Well, a, you're making an assumption that I'm liberal.

HANNITY: Aren't you?

PINSKY: B, I absolutely agree. No, I'm not. I'm quite conservative, in fact. And that's the point. I agree with you that we are over-sexualized in our media. There's no doubt about it.

But there are standards. And why should we not apply those standards across the board? The fact is, here is a message about something that could be productive, it could apply to sexual health. If we want to change the standards, then by all means let's change the standards. But the standards, as they exist, they need to be applied equally to everybody.

HANNITY: Well, but, again, this is targeted towards — look, the people that I know that are watching the WB are 12-, 13-, 14-year-old kids. That's the mentality we're talking about here.

Now, the average parent that has a 12-, 13-, or 14-year-old son or daughter, there are a lot of people, Drew, that have very different values. They don't want their kids getting cucumber condom demonstrations or banana demonstrations.

PINSKY: Absolutely.

HANNITY: They would rather have their values reinforced somewhere. But on a channel that targets kids, now it's just another venue, another shot, another instance where we're taking their innocence away.

PINSKY: I don't agree with that. Because these are not sexually — these are not sexual messages so much as issues pertinent to disease states, infectious disease states. And while I agree with you that the sexual content needs to be monitored — parents shouldn't allow kids to watch these stations when they have an issue with them — and I, too, feel ambushed with my kids. But I don't know that this is where we should be focusing on...

COLMES: Hey, Dr. Drew. Thank you for being with us tonight. Good to see you. Good luck with the new show.

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