You Can Put Lipstick on a Pig but not a Condom

Fox and CBS rejected an ad for Trojan condoms that was to have aired last night.

In the commercial, a cellphone-toting pig hits on women at a bar. He is unsuccessful until he heads to men’s room, gets a condom from a vending machine and returns as a head-turning male in his 20′s.

At that point, the tagline appears: “Evolve. Use a condom every time.”

Trojan’s Vice President of marketing explained:

“The ‘Evolve’ ad does a nice job of being humorous, but it’s also a serious call to action,” Mr. Daniels said. “The pigs are a symbol of irresponsible sexual behavior, and are juxtaposed with the condom as a responsible symbol of respect for oneself and one’s partner.”

It seems the TV networks objected to linking condoms to pregnancy prevention (as opposed to health-related issues. That was FOX’s basis for rejection). I thought it was a funny take on the “men are pigs” complaint of single women.

Now, I know the average CBS viewer is around 60 or so, or at least old enough to know about condoms. And FOX is the network that knows a thing or two about sexy TV programming (“Joe Millionaire” anyone?). So it’s OK to use sex to sell hamburgers (like celebutard Paris Hilton did for Carl Jr.’s) but not condoms? Give me a break!

I think CBS and FOX blew an opportunity to be a part of a very buzz-worthy campaign from Trojan. Thumbs up to those who do run this commercial. Hopefully this includes ESPN…