100 T.V. Stations Reject Tame Ad for Female Arousal Drug

With all the ads for drugs like Viagra and Cialis touting erections, I figured sex-enhancement pharmaceuticals were deemed a-okay for the T.V. viewing audience. My mistake: male sexuality is a perfectly acceptable subject for commercials on an array of television statements at all times of the days. Female sexuality, on the other hand, needs to be kept on the down low.

Creators of Zestra, a female arousal drug that claims to put a little zest into a woman feeling chronically uninterested, say that they've run up against a major double standard in the television industry, where male sexuality and four-hour erections can be discussed but female sexuality needs to be kept hush-hush. After approaching approximately 100 T.V. stations, only Soapnet Women’s Entertainment and Discovery Health would run their less-than-racy ads featuring middle aged women bringing up their desire to feel more, well, desire. "After I had my children, sex didn’t make me feel the same way." My goodness: call the morality police, that's some X-rated dialogue.

Some networks rejected the ads out-of-hand; others wanted disclaimers such as "Not for people under 18"; some would only agree to run the ads between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m., when few viewers are tuned in. This line from the New York Times article made me chuckle with its dry humor: "Many stations told them to remove the words sex and arousal, which proved somewhat challenging for a product having to do with sexual arousal."

I have no comment on how well Zestra actually works, but if it helps women put a spring in their sex life, more power to them. T.V. stations rejecting an ad for no better reason than a prudish discomfort with discussing sex or female sexuality in particular need to get out of the Victorian era.

You can sign this petition to call for an end to double standards in advertising.

Photo credit: kyz