A sultry singer is dressed in a skimpy two-piece outfit with see-through mesh on her legs and midriff.
She struts down a runway surrounded by screaming fans. She falls on her knees and provocatively sings to the captive audience of schoolchildren forced to be shown Channel One.
With moves that would challenge any belly dancer, the Pepsi singer shakes her hips and whips the fans into a frenzy.
This commercial first ran on Channel One in September. The folks at Channel One have a long history of allowing sexual images to be used to plug their advertisers’ products. It looks like the 2001-02 school year will be one of the more over-the-top years for Channel One. As they lose advertisers, they become less selective about what is shown.
Teachers are blind sided by Channel One’s lack of discretion. They don’t know what is coming next unless they preview the show. Obligation has sent an email to Channel One’s president, Jim Ritts (jritts@channelone.com) and the CEO of Primedia, Tom Rogers (trogers@primediainc.com), protesting the showing of any soft drink commercials and especially ones that are so sexually provocative. If we receive a reply, we will post it on this site. Don’t hold your breath.
