Our Man In Washington
(Page 2 of 5)
January/February 1972
By Mike Kiernan
Westen recently filed a voluminous series of legal proposals to the Federal Communications Commission in an effort to establish legal guidelines for individuals and groups seeking to respond to "false, misleading, controversial or one-sided radio and TV commercials."
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Westen told MOTHER that he thinks there is a reasonable chance that the FCC will establish the guidelines although he does not expect a ruling for another year. Westen's optimism is based on recent decisions by the FCC and the U.S. Court of Appeals that have compelled broadcasters to donate a substantial amount of program time to important national and local environmental problems.
In his proposals to the FCC, Westen seeks the right of an individual to purchase up to 100% of available commercial time to oppose specific claims made in paid broadcast commercials; the right of free access of up to 20% of commercial time to respond to product commercials under the Fairness Doctrine; the right to place such counter-commercials "back to back" with the specific product or claim to which they are addressed.
The third proposal alone could change the face of Madison Avenue. Corporate advertisers might well ponder the possibility of a counter-commercial like the one above following a 60-second pitch to buy a new Ford Torino.
As corporate advertisers and their critics squabble in the background, the average television set continues to be clicked on for 6 hours and 12 minutes each day. According to TV Guide this means that the average viewer watches some 200 TV commercials each day or about 5 million during a lifetime.
WHEN SUDS WERE SUPER AND WORRIES WERE FEW
In 1947 the makers of Super Judy Suds soap powder bragged that one little box of their product was powerful enough to fill a 15-ton truck with soapsuds. The year could hardly be remembered as the dawning of a new age of consumer activism, but LIFE magazine—to its credit—was skeptical enough of the Super Suds people to challenge them to prove their claims.
So it came to pass that the Colgate Palmolive Company obtained a truck, lined its bottom with borax-softened water and scattered upon the waters the contents of one box of Super Suds.
A compressor pumped air through pipes into the truck, and as LIFE dutifully reported, "the truck began to bubble up like a seidel of warm beer."
Ten minutes later Colgate technicians and vice-presidents were jubilant as the truck overflowed. It was the advertising coup of the year. In a 2-1/2 page spread LIFE recorded that "Super Suds had indeed told the truth."
These days the truth about detergents is not so easy to record. Practically every detergent on the market seems to be linked with something catastrophic. Some are said to cause cancer; others to endanger the lives of little children; some to irritate the skin; still others to destroy life in rivers and lakes.
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