The first product advertiser on Channel One this year is Neutrogena’s Acne Wash. Like virtually all product commercials on Channel One News the 30-second ads tell kids there are simple answers to problems – all you need to do is buy a product and your problem – in this case acne – is gone.
If students will just hand over their money to Neutrogena their faces will all clear up. Two different products are being pushed the first week of Channel One broadcasts. Oil-Free Acne Wash and Oil-Free Acne Stress Control. Few teachers will take the time or have the training to deconstruct these ads and help students see through the commercial message. What does "acne stress control" mean? Will there be less stress in your life if you smear this stuff on your face? One is a "acne wash" and the other is a "power-foam wash" – what’s the difference? Maybe I should buy both?
These are the first two products being advertised this school year by Neutrogena. Why should millions of minutes of school time EACH week be lost as students watch commercials from this Johnson & Johnson company? Because this company wants to make money off of a captive audience of schoolchildren. And if your child has a little less time for math or English, Johnson & Johnson would remind you about the "free" TV sets hanging off the wall. It’s a small price to pay, they would say, for having a TV set in your classroom.
Acne products exemplify why there should be no commercials in classrooms. Commercials are the opposite of what teachers should be teaching. Commercials are propaganda. They are not TRUE. Yes, what they say may not be false, but they are not TRUE because they aren’t meant to convey all the information students need to make a rational decision. Channel One News has told students over the past five years that a wide variety of over-the-counter medicines are THE answer to their acne. A student would have spent a small fortune buying all the various products Channel One (and their school) have endorsed.
Here are a few:
Nature’s Cure Channel One ran these commercials for months. Probably no one at Channel One thought this product worked but this was a good stream of ad revenue at a time Channel One was beginning to lose advertisers.
Channel One News recklessly ran ads for Zapzyt. This product could not be advertised to young people under 13 because of the amount of benzoyl peroxide (10%). Obligation complained to CARU, an industry advertising review board, and these ads disappeared from Channel One News.
In another ad campaign Channel One ran relentless ads several times each week for Proactiv. A very expensive over-the-counter drug treatment that relied heavily on celebrity endorsements. Because of the impressionable age of the student audience Channel One News has a self-imposed restriction banning all celebrity endorsements. This is stated in Channel One’s "News Standards" published and distributed to schools in 1993. When it came to either accepting Proactiv’s ad money or maintaining their own declared "news standards," Channel One of course chose the cash.
Clearasil ads have run for years on Channel One. Also Oxy Balance has been a major advertiser. Click on this link for an example of a "hardball" ad to make girls feel ugly if they even have one slight bump on their face.
Here is a piece of Channel One sales literature from several years ago that shows how Channel One lures advertisers to its show. They tell potential advertisers of health and beauty products how "image conscious" students are in middle and high school. What they are saying is you can play on these children’s insecurities especially inside the classroom where peer pressure and peer criticism is so strong. Channel One News has always tried to help its advertisers sell products by making students feel ugly. Unless you feel ugly or uncomfortable about yourself, you won’t buy the product.
