The fight against erectile dysfunction ads

Erectile dysfunction drug manufacturers spent $313.4 million on measured media last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence. That's up from $237.2 million in 2007. Rep James Moran (D-VA) thinks that too much, um, exposure. He's introduced the Families for ED Advertising Decency Act (H.R. 2175), a bill that calls for the Federal Communications Commission to "treat as indecent" ads for erectile dysfunction cures between the hours of 6 am and 10 pm. This is his second attempt to get the ads run by Pfizer (Viagra), Lilly (Cialis) and GlaxoSmithKline (Levitra) toned down; in 2005, he claimed to have reached an agreement with representatives of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Four years later, the ads are ever more pervasive and, according to Rep Moran, more explicit. Broadcast advertising falls into a special class of discourse, insofar as we choose the programs we do and don't want to watch but have almost no control over the advertising we are exposed to. Therefore it seems the bar of probity must be at least a little higher than it is with programming.