What is it with commercials these days?

[karynnix]

I don't remember commercials being so uncomfortable when I was growing up. Maybe I don't want to discuss periods, ED, tampons, yeast infections and digestive problems with my 10 year old son. It seems that those types of commercials run all the time!

 

[tinkerlisa]

I totally agree! My oldest DS is 6. He asked me what genital herpes was!!!! I was so flabbergasted, I couldn't answer him at first. I was racking my brain saying should I be honest with him? or make something up for now? Obviously I finally just said its a disease that some people catch and they need special medication for it and there was no cure for it and it is really important to not spread it!. What gets me is he saw the commercial during an episode of Sponge Bob. Why would a children's network have those kind of commercials on it?

 

[imthatgirl]

im 32 and tampon and maxi pad commercials were surely on when i was a child. i just think kids arent paying as much attention as we think, i know i wasnt.
if my child asked me what herpes was i think i would just tell them its a disease. you dont have to go into so much detail.

my kids watch mostly disney channel, nick and discovery . none of them run any of those commercials. i think if you watch local channels you have more of an issue.

 

[tinkerlisa]

No it was nickelodeon last week around 2:30 my time. I was watching it with him when he asked.

 

[TheRatPack]

I think a lot of the shows are getting a bit risky too. I know I've been sitting here watching some shows on Nick and the other cartoon networks and sometimes they say some things that you think "WHAT?". We've really limited our TV time around here lately and blocked a lot of shows that we used to watch due to the content.

 

[imthatgirl]

No it was nickelodeon last week around 2:30 my time. I was watching it with him when he asked.

that would have been a mistake by your cable or satelitte provider. nick doesnt air any commercials of that variety. but, all the commercials you see arent aired by nick. they leave some spots for local products or businesses.
im surprised that the cable station would choose to air that commercial, its possible though that they made a mistake.
if its the norm that at that time everyday you see the commercial i would get in touch with the cable or satelitte company to let them know of the mistake.

 

[happymommy]

EEW! I totally agree - our local news radio constantly runs an ad for that "man problem"! I turn it off whenever that annoying ad comes on! That is so icky! I had never heard of such a thing when I was younger - even a few years ago! I really wish they would pull it, but it probably pays the station...

I don't mind tampons and pads, that is just life. The rest, why oh why do we need to hear about it?

I used to only let my kids watch VCR videos we had - to keep them away from commercials. DS used to ask for every toy he saw advertised, and that worked well for a few years.

 

[mom2boys77]

Us too. We have blocked Nick. The way they talk on some of the shows is just ridiculous. Even sometimes on The Disney Channel when they have videos on from Ashley Tisdale and the other one from HSM..who are they marketing to??

I think a lot of the shows are getting a bit risky too. I know I've been sitting here watching some shows on Nick and the other cartoon networks and sometimes they say some things that you think "WHAT?". We've really limited our TV time around here lately and blocked a lot of shows that we used to watch due to the content.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I absolutely agree! - They are advertising stuff with one target audience during shows with a completely different target audience. We use DVR a lot so we can skip the commercials.

 

[JamesMom]

On Nick a few weeks ago they had an ad for debt consolidation!!! Try explaining why the people of tv are being kicked out of their house! It didn't happen cause my 5 yo was clueless when spongebob isn't on the screen, but still. I think they sneak in a few ads for the parents too.
And, and my kids used to beg for every toy too, but we explained that the toys on TV are junk to get kids to waste their money. So when he asks 'can i have that?" I ask "is it on tv? then no" lol

 

[tinkerlisa]

The commercials with feminine stuff dont really bother me. I saw those ads growing up. I never really started to notice the commercials until about a year ago my fiance was like whats with these commercials for "man problems" and other stuff. I was like oh well they are just ads and stuff and if it weren't for those ads, we would have no t.v. I don't watch the news with my kids around at all. i wait for the 10 o' clock news. I am glad that my oldest isn't into the older kid shows yet. He sticks to spongebob and scooby doo and will even watch playhouse disney with his brother!

 

[barnaby1]

We have just returned from a holiday in WDW and I was a little mortified to see an add on the TV for male / female KY jelly (which claimed all sorts of wonderful things). The ad initself didn't bother me but the fact that it was on at 10 in the morning during the Waltons!

 

[LadySincere]

that would have been a mistake by your cable or satelitte provider. nick doesnt air any commercials of that variety. but, all the commercials you see arent aired by nick. they leave some spots for local products or businesses.
im surprised that the cable station would choose to air that commercial, its possible though that they made a mistake.
if its the norm that at that time everyday you see the commercial i would get in touch with the cable or satelitte company to let them know of the mistake.

Nickelodeon shows these commercials, its NOGGIN that does not. We have DirecTv, however I've seen them on regular cable channels in different states, so it's just not MY area.

 

[tinkerlisa]

I love noggin! my older son used to watch it all the time. Yeah nickelodeon runs the commercials all the time. Its one thing to do it at night during their "nick at nite" programming but during the day?!

 

[carj]

I am so tired of these commercials during kids shows for products that are aimed at adults. I don't have a problem with them advertising during shows that are aimed at adults.

 

[lntsmom]

that commercials shouldn't be the conversation starter for these topics and that many commercials today are waaay too direct with their message. There were commercials for beer, cigarettes, and feminine products when I was growing up...but they weren't as in-your-face as the ones today are.

Personally, I wish we'd go the way that Europe has and ban all pharmaceutical commercials.

That said, since your son is 10, some of these topics are ones you might cosider covering with your son. At 10 my son was a 5th grader. Our parish (we're Catholic) offered basic sex-ed courses for 4th and 5th graders. The classes were very direct. The kids learned about puberty and the changes for both male and female bodies, reproduction, and discussed how to make moral decisions as they entered middle school.

I'm sure some parents might be aghast at this, but as a Middle School teacher, I can assure you that if you haven't covered these things at home prior to your kiddos moving to Middle School, their friends will cover it for you.

I wanted my son to see and hear everything in a spiritual setting...to have a moral view on what he was going to be exposed to for the next 3 years.

 

[Ellester]

It bothers me that the major networks put fairly explicit commercials for their prime time shows during the day. I can't watch football on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon without being hit with some couple practically getting it on right during the commercial! It was all during the Olympics too, I'm watching swimming with my dd10 and a commercial showing a couple in the shower comes on repeatedly! Last Christmas night, during the ABC "Family Movie" showing of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, the commercials were enough to make me blush. No wonder we don't watch much TV!

 

[ajh88]

Personally, I wish we'd go the way that Europe has and ban all pharmaceutical commercials.

We used to have stricter limits on direct-to-consumer advertising for pharmaceuticals. The standards were "loosened" about 10 years ago, which is why we now notice all of the pharma commericals.

I know the feminine hygiene products have been on since I was a kid because I used to hate when they'd show up!

The advertisements that bother me are the movie previews for R-rated (sometimes even PG-13) films that come on during prime time. DD usually isn't paying attention, but even I don't like them, especially some of the horror films.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

My youngest daughter loves to watch The Little Men Show, but I hate that everytime she watches it there is this one commercial on. I thought about calling and complaining, but now that she is back in school and not home I let it slip my mind. The commercial shows a woman, dressed in a very small bikini rubbing her hands across her body with the camera focusing on her chest. It is for a tanning place. I just can't figure why they would even pay to have it run during Mr. Men, whose viewers clearly are not threir target audience. Anyway, yes, the commercials are going a bit too far to say the least. I don't mind anything during shows that kids won't be or should not be watching, but during cartoons? That is too much. JMO

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

The worst for us is when our DD9 started singing "Viva Viagra"...at first it was hard to not laugh, but then I told her to not sing it...it really is hard to explain some of the stuff that shows up on tv.