Tia Tisdale

Sandra’s 10 year old son, Ben, asks her if he can watch TV one Saturday evening. She agrees, and while Ben goes to the bathroom, Sandra turns the channel to Nickelodeon’s Nick at Nite. Watching from her kitchen, Sandra observes a disturbing advertisement:

The scene is a woman in a barely-there bikini running passionately toward something while sniffing the air. Then, she is joined by what seems like hundreds of more women—all in skimpy swimwear—passionately running toward the same direction. The next scene shows ‘hundreds’ more women swimming across the ocean: again all passionately toward the same direction. The view then pans out and show what seems to be thousands of women (in bikinis) running and swimming toward an island. In the middle of the island stands one man smiling joyfully at the sight of all the women while continuously spraying himself with Axe body spray. Then a seductive female voice says “Axe. Spray more, get more”.

Sandra stands in shock—only to see yet ANOTHER Axe commercial follow. This one shows a woman gyrating her hips seductively while singing “Boom Chicka Wa-wa” in front of a man who she discovers is wearing the body spray. Sandra feels relieved that her son is in the bathroom and can’t see these advertisements.

The next morning, Sandra goes to check on Ben (who is getting ready for school) and to her surprise, finds him gyrating in front of a mirror, singing “Bom Chicka Wa-wa” while spraying himself with Axe body spray. Then, he says “spray more, get more girls”.

It is no secret that sexual advertisements appeal to a lot of the general public. Where does the line get drawn? Nickelodeon is a channel that during the daytime is directed toward young children, and in later evening hours, older children. The programming is designed specifically for the age appropriate groups, yet, the commercials are not.

Should commercial advertisements be censored for children’s channels, or is all fair in marketing and advertisement?

Photograph Credit:
Sabrina Segal