Highly inappropriate material on a kids channel

[paulrichjr]

A few days ago my family which consists of 3 small children and my wife and I were watching Cartoon Network. An advertisement came on for Degrassi (on Noggin of all channels) which talked about a young boy being gay and even showed him kissing another young man. The advertisement was done by Dish Network because at the end it showed the Dish Network Noggin channel number.

A couple of points to make:

I can take Noggin off of my listing but an ad on another KIDS channel is impossible to block.

I realize that around half of the people on this forum is going to to say that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality...but around 1/2 is going to agree with me. It would be different if it were on Showtime or other adult channels, but Cartoon Network is not the place to make a point on this highly polarized issue.

I personally feel that Noggin (a channel for pre-schoolers) shouldn't be showing this but as I said I can get rid of it. I UNDERSTAND that Dish cannot do anything about the programming on one of their channels. The problem I have is that Dish feels that it should advertise this program on Cartoon Network.

I am giving Dish a few days to respond to emails that I have sent to them and if they don't I will begin looking for another provider that doesn't advertise inappropriate material on kids channels. Anyone else have a problem with this?

 

[carload]

If the ad was shown during Snorks or Huckleberry Hound, that's wrong. If it was during Adult Swim (Harvey Birdman or something), that's understandable.

Never mind what I think about homosexuality, I just don't want to have to explain it to my kid at the spur of the moment. There's a time and place to talk about it, and watching cartoons isn't it.

Oh, and that's not Noggin showing Degrassi -- it's "The N", which now shares the channel with Noggin. Noggin's programming day ends at 6pm Eastern, as if preschoolers were done with TV by 3pm Pacific. The N is just a way to try to attract some junior high schoolers to get the channel more popular.

On a related note, my five-year-old enjoys Robot Wars, a G-rated show on G4 Tech TV. I'd prefer to record its 2am showing (when the TV's guaranteed to be unoccupied), but when I do, I have to be careful to skip past all the Girls Gone Wild ads. I thought to complain, but the ads aren't so inappropriate for that time of night. They're only trouble when I play the recording during the day.

 

[paulrichjr]

The ad was shown around 5:00 in the afternoon during "kids" cartoons.

 

[korsjs]

I am giving Dish a few days to respond to emails that I have sent to them and if they don't I will begin looking for another provider that doesn't advertise inappropriate material on kids channels. Anyone else have a problem with this?

try complaining to the television station. dish is not going to do anything about it. the only advertising dish does is when the channel has a break which normally would be used to show local commericials.

 

[long_time_DNC]

I agree, Dish isn't going to do anything about it, but complaining to Cartoon Network might get you further.

I also get sick and tired of all those Enzyte commercials and their double-meaning phrases all over the place. Spike TV and FX seem to be worst at showing those ads to death.

 

[paulrichjr]

try complaining to the television station. dish is not going to do anything about it. the only advertising dish does is when the channel has a break which normally would be used to show local commericials.

But as I said before...this WAS a DISH advertisement. That is why I feel Dish should be held responsible.

The Enzyte commercials while bad or not on Cartoon Network and they have a double meaning as you said. Seeing 2 teenage boys kissing on the mouth doesn't need to be seen by my kids. No double meaning there.

 

[jlhugh]

I don't guess I have seen that one yet. I better keep my eye out on that one. I really don't like stuff like that being shown that time of day when all the kids are watching.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Yep, I agree. Totally inappropriate on a cartoon channel.

 

[hpman247]

Probably inappropriate to many, but being 18 years old, and this might change, but i dout it, as my beliefs are firm, i dont see the big deal. I hate censorship as a whole. My mom never censored anything on me and I turned out as a straight A student, who is never ever in trouble. So i dont see the big deal myself, even though i am not a huge fan of homosexuality.

 

[Uplink]

The ad was for a show called Degrassi: The Next Generation which is a follow up to the series in the 80s. The show is meant for an older viewer. If you just dont like these ads get DirecTV instead of dish.

Quoted from tv tome:
This show is about a group of 8th to 12th graders at Degrassi Community School. Kids at DCS deal with all kinds of issues (i.e. sex, drugs, dating). In the second season DCS merges with a nearby high school, so everybody is still at the same school. This show is basically based on the episodes of Degrassi Junior High as well as Degrassi High. Some characters from those two shows are in Degrassi: The Next Generation with the part of teachers, parents, etc....

 

[Mr Tony]

Sounds like the commercial came directly from Cartoon Network and Dish just inputted their channel in the spot. Its done all the time.

Commercial for X program comes on and at the bottom, cable or satellite can add their info. (channel number)

 

[ComcastOgre]

I was about to say that too Iceberg. Paul, it's an issue with Cartoon Network because they created the advertising or accepted it from another party.

 

[paulrichjr]

I was about to say that too Iceberg. Paul, it's an issue with Cartoon Network because they created the advertising or accepted it from another party.

If that is true then I would be willing to give Dish some slack. I would take my complaint to Cartoon Network in that situation. However, I thought the two channels (Cartoon Network and the channel that comes on after Noggin stuff) were different companies. It is very very rare for a one network to advertise for another network. Not saying it doesn't happen but it is just rare. I would like to do some more research but from what I saw it seemed to me to be a Dish Network ad.

Does anyone know the ownership of the other channel? I was thinking Viacom but I could be wrong.

 

[mattb]

Cartoon Network is owned by Turner ala Time Warner... Noggin is a Viacom owned property.

It's possible for cross platform ads, and its also possible it was not a E* inserted spot but a network fed spot that E* put the Channel # on (OTA tv does this all the time, for spots for other shows they add their Channel #.

 

[Uplink]

Cartoon Network is AOL Time Warner, Noggin/The-N is Viacom
Dish Network put the ad on over a commerical that cartoon network was airing.

Its not too big a deal to be quite honest with you, it got aired because degrassi and the n is a childrens show/network and cartoon network is too so they put it in that ad spot.

In dish's eyes content for children is content for children so its commerical gets aired in a time when children are watching...i doubt it was intentional

 

[paulrichjr]

Its not too big a deal to be quite honest with you, it got aired because degrassi and the n is a childrens show/network and cartoon network is too so they put it in that ad spot.

In dish's eyes content for children is content for children so its commerical gets aired in a time when children are watching...i doubt it was intentional

I disagree with the ...It's not too big a deal quote. I can get rid of Showtime, Noggin, and any other station that carries material inappropriate for my kids. It is harder if the other stations carry commericals inappropriate. As I figured, Dish was responsible for the ad.

 

[nicholassjenkins]

I'm glad there's at least 1 other responsible parent out there

I disagree with the ...It's not too big a deal quote. I can get rid of Showtime, Noggin, and any other station that carries material inappropriate for my kids. It is harder if the other stations carry commericals inappropriate. As I figured, Dish was responsible for the ad.

I agree with your analysis, above.

I have a similar problem with our local television stations, which on Saturday morning run the latest killing/murdering/depravity they can find right before they switch to Nick Jr. at 8:00am. After writing them, and their parent affiliate without result, I simply prevent my children from accessing the TV at that time.

The sad truth is that the world we live in seems not just indifferent anymore, but actually accepting that a child should reasonably be exposed to all aspects of adult life, regardless of age, including violence, sexuality, etc. Parents feeling otherwise, attempting to perhaps carefully craft at what age children are introduced to various concepts are at a disadvantage.

I, too, had thought I had seen rather odd advertisements before on Noggin for such shows, at a time when my 4 year old was watching Boombies or whatever they're called. I remember thinking, "Do the marketing executives who placed this commercial really think that the same audience (4 year olds) that are watching Boombies (or whatever...) are interested in a teen drama?"

I applaud your efforts, and will start investigating ad nauseum myself. If I see similar advertising, that will be the end of my subscription.

 

[Sapient]

Personally, I would much rather my kid see two people kiss than the violence that is in a lot of the cartoon aimed at kids. I don't let my son watch a lot of kid's programming, but I have no problem having him see kissing. Shooting=bad. Kissing=ok.

 

[glenn z]

Personally, I would much rather my kid see two people kiss than the violence that is in a lot of the cartoon aimed at kids. I don't let my son watch a lot of kid's programming, but I have no problem having him see kissing. Shooting=bad. Kissing=ok.

Kissing between two boys? I don't know.

I grew up watching tom & jerry, roadrunner, bugs bunny, etc. Much violence in there but I always knew it was a cartoon and not real life (my dad sat and watched with me and discussed it with me). I can handle that conversation. I don't want to talk to my 5 year old about homosexuality at this time.

 

[LosingPatience]

Shooting=bad. Kissing=ok.

Amen.