Lilith
11-05-2006, 03:41 PM
(gg)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian authorities want to stop
the daytime airing of a television advertisement
promoting flavoured condoms saying it is obscene and
in bad taste, a newspaper reported Friday.
The advert promotes DKT's "XXX" strawberry, chocolate
and banana flavoured condoms with the catchline "What
is your flavor of the night?."
But the Advertising Standards Council of India and the
Censor Board have asked the government to bar the ad
from being broadcast during the day, especially during
the popular Champions Trophy international cricket
tournament.
"This campaign is obscene," Sharmila Tagore,
chairwoman of the Censor Board was quoted as saying in
the Times of India. "Maybe DKT is targeting raunchy
teenagers. But the ads are definitely not meant for
children."
Tagore, who is also an anti-AIDS activist, said she
did not want to ban the advert totally, but
recommended it be aired after 11 p.m. or in cinemas
with an "A certification" instead of during the day
when children were watching television.
An A certification on a film or advert indicates that
it is meant for adult viewing only.
A senior DKT official told the newspaper the flavored
condoms were not meant to promote oral sex, but to
encourage couples who do not like the smell of latex.
Conservative attitudes to sex and contraception and a
lack of awareness is common, especially in rural
India.
Experts say this has not only left children and women
vulnerable to abuse but has also exacerbated the
spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, which now has the
highest number of cases in the world.
According to the United Nations, 5.7 million Indians
are living with the virus. But activists say the true
figure may be far higher as social stigma forces many
of those infected to keep their status a secret.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian authorities want to stop
the daytime airing of a television advertisement
promoting flavoured condoms saying it is obscene and
in bad taste, a newspaper reported Friday.
The advert promotes DKT's "XXX" strawberry, chocolate
and banana flavoured condoms with the catchline "What
is your flavor of the night?."
But the Advertising Standards Council of India and the
Censor Board have asked the government to bar the ad
from being broadcast during the day, especially during
the popular Champions Trophy international cricket
tournament.
"This campaign is obscene," Sharmila Tagore,
chairwoman of the Censor Board was quoted as saying in
the Times of India. "Maybe DKT is targeting raunchy
teenagers. But the ads are definitely not meant for
children."
Tagore, who is also an anti-AIDS activist, said she
did not want to ban the advert totally, but
recommended it be aired after 11 p.m. or in cinemas
with an "A certification" instead of during the day
when children were watching television.
An A certification on a film or advert indicates that
it is meant for adult viewing only.
A senior DKT official told the newspaper the flavored
condoms were not meant to promote oral sex, but to
encourage couples who do not like the smell of latex.
Conservative attitudes to sex and contraception and a
lack of awareness is common, especially in rural
India.
Experts say this has not only left children and women
vulnerable to abuse but has also exacerbated the
spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, which now has the
highest number of cases in the world.
According to the United Nations, 5.7 million Indians
are living with the virus. But activists say the true
figure may be far higher as social stigma forces many
of those infected to keep their status a secret.