Liberal Talk Radio

Lots of fun stuff in this piece on a new condom ad that’s “controversial” because it dares to say that condoms might prevent pregnancy. The ad has been banned in most markets except… Seattle!

I loved this defense from Comcast:

Comcast, the cable provider for both Pittsburgh and Seattle, would not allow Trojan to purchase local ads for Adult Swim, the nighttime programming on the Cartoon Network, in either market, deeming it inappropriate for children who might stay tuned at night. Adult Swim did accept national advertising, however, so the ads will appear in those same slots in Seattle and Pittsburgh.

In other words, Comcast admits that the whole idea behind Adult Swim is a farce because kids might stay up late. If Comcast actually were to follow through on that line of reasoning, they’d have to cancel Adult Swim entirely, wouldn’t they? Kids might stay up late!!

Dan Savage even gets in a good line:

Dan Savage, who writes the syndicated sex column “Savage Love” and blogged about the Trojan situation, said in an interview from Seattle: “I’m offended by the reality that television is so hypersexualized and glorifies sexual excess and promiscuity, and then runs screaming into the megachurch and drops to its knees when someone wants to run an advertisement that urges people to be responsible about their sexual expression.”

Yup. Ally McBeal can get boned by a different lawyer every week, but the minute she reaches for a condom — which presumably she does, or else she’s BFF with the receptionist at her local Planned Parenthood — it’s a scandal!

(I never watch Ally McBeal, but from the commercials I used to see, she seems like the promiscuous sort. Feel free to insert any other character from any other TV show ever if you prefer. Even George Costanza had a lot of sex, it seems, though at least Seinfeld was up front about birth control, using it for delightful comic effect)

(via Mr. Savage himself)