produced by Heroic Media which were scheduled to run on the network during May
2011.
MTV notified the press of their decision to pull the call-for-help
commercials on May 5, but did not inform Heroic Media until the following
afternoon.
An MTV sales representative who notified Heroic Media’s
advertising agency of the decision indicated that MTV President Stephen
Friedman made the decision.
According to the sales representative, MTV,
“Was in the works with doing a partnership with Planned Parenthood and different
opportunities for PSA’s when he decided that he did not want to run Heroic Media
on MTV.”
Last month, MTV partnered with Planned Parenthood on a
promotion called “Get Yourself Tested,” which was promoted on both MTV and
Planned Parenthood’s websites.
Planned Parenthood reported performing
332,278 abortions in the United States in 2009. On their website, MTV has listed
Planned Parenthood as an adoption referral resource. Planned Parenthood made 977
adoption referrals in 2009.
The newly ‘banned’ commercial, which has
been running on MTV since May of 2010 is called “We Can Help” and features a
young woman struggling with an unexpected pregnancy. The script follows:
Young Woman: “I’m pregnant.”
Adult Woman: “It happens.”
Young Woman:
“I’m afraid.”
Adult Woman: “That’s normal.”
Young Woman: “I’m worried. My
boyfriend’s scared, my parents are mad.”
Adult Woman: “Get a grip, people.
You’re not alone. We can help.”
Jeannie Kedas, senior vice president at MTV Networks, issued the following
official statement to Heroic Media seven days after giving it to the press,
“Upon further review, it was hard for us to separate some of the recent tactics
of the organization behind the ads themselves, so we have opted to not accept
them for air at this time.”
Heroic Media has asked MTV to reconsider
this decision and allow Heroic Media and other organizations to make women aware
of hopeful alternatives to abortion.
Heroic Media is a faith-based
non-profit that reduces abortion by creating a culture of life through
television, billboard and internet advertising which connect women in crisis
with life-affirming pregnancy centers. In communities where Heroic Media’s
commercials have run consistently, abortions have dropped by as much as 20 percent.
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