This is Gossip Girl's new ad campaign. The only action I took was to open my email - And I am confronted with images of undressed teenagers in sexual positions. The pop up was strategically placed over my check mail buttons so I had no choice but to scroll over. Scrolling over runs a short soft porn movie featuring teenage kids.
The ad is marketing directly to tweens and teens (and likely DVRed by members of Nambla and other pedophiles) as the hip sex opera for KIDS, Gossip Girl.
We're not talking about "censorship" of the Playboy Channel here. We're talking about putting restrictions on what sexual positions the media is allowed to portray children in and how they are allowed to market it. And by sexual positions, I mean, are we to allow teens to be portrayed in doggy style in marketing before we finally get pissed enough to shout NO!
It gets worse. They aren't even having to pay for all the advertising. I got this widget by following the lures to get teenagers to post this on their own email, personal sites and blogs. Getting children to exploit themselves by posting free advertising that exploits and cheapens their sexuality is WRONG.
If you'll recall I had an issue with Gossip Girl editing a rape scene together with a consensual sex scene, effectively blurring the line between yes and no - glamorizing and romanticizing rape for their teenage audience. I cancelled the CW shortly after. But, they found me. As I'm sure they are finding all kids - regardless of parental attempts to shield our children from adult content. It's email - how many kids, tweens and teens get email?
This is unacceptable. One of the only tools we have is parental outrage.
Please join me in writing a letter to CBS - The CW's parent company - and express your disappointment and outrage in their marketing strategy for Gossip Girl. (click on "feedback" button in right sidebar).
7 comments:
I'm pretty sure this puts me in the uncool older person category I used to swear I'd never become when I was a teen, however...
The only time I watched this show, it was like teenagers playing adults on tv -- sophisticated, pretentious "too cool for school" adults who drink cocktails and have casual sex. They didn't even seem real to me, but I'm not exactly their target audience.
I couldn't see the video for some reason, but I'll take your word for it. I've seen ads in the past featuring stills of GG couples in the throes of sex. They simply say OMFG across the bottom. Nice message for teens.
90210 seems so tame compared to this.
I've been suffering from an "I've become uncool" crisis over this myself.
Am I crazy or is it wrong to make soft porn involving teenagers? Is it wrong to then market it to teenagers?
Didn't we used to call that pedophilia?
Who would have thought we'd long for the good judgement of the 80s and 90s?
I don't care if it makes me uncool. I'm starting to see how seeing them in doggy style won't be that much of a stretch and I would prefer never to get there.
Here's my F-word acronym: WTF?
Maybe that is another reason why (as we discussed on yesterday's post) parents don't like to say no to their kids.
Simply, they don't want to be uncool. It is like the worst thing you can think of when you are young.
It's getting worse and worse everyday. I bet by the time I have kids TV will not be allowed in my house...unless it's CNN or the Disney channel but who knows, that could bring about another set of issues.
As for the net...I don't even want to think about it.
DJ-
I know tons of parents that ban Disney because the characters talk back and use adult sarcasm, confront dating and relationships when they are still in Elementary school, etc.
I personally don't allow the news, including CNN, because they feel it's necessary to go into very graphic details of crimes they cover. The news promotes paranoia and a general feeling that we're unsafe and everyone is out to get us. I believe this started when they began competing for ratings with E Channel and Entertainment Tonight.
Tracee, looks like the Parents Televison Council is all over this now, too:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003793149
Here's a quote from the above link: "The PTC said Gossip Girl is “the most-watched show among girls 12-17 and glamorizes casual sex and drug use among teens. Storylines have featured a would-be teen rapist, threesome among teens, and teenage girls having sex with adults.”
THE MOST WATCHED SHOW AMONG GIRLS 12-17.
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