ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702210027
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: the back pew
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
"What's the world coming to?"
That was all the yellow Post-It note from Metro Editor Mark Layman said.
It was attached to a copy of an ad - now running in TV Guide, among other places - for the USA Network.
At the top of the page is a picture of a young couple engaged in a passionate embrace.
The bottom half of the page is filled with this promise:
"Guaranteed to break at least 20 percent more Commandments than any other line-up."
Some versions of the ad refer specifically to the "Sunday night line-up."
At a glance, it's obvious that the copy is clever; it's certainly attention-getting.
It's the kind of ad that forces a reader to stop and take a second look, to linger. We try to figure out if the ad should be read tongue-in-cheek - which is my conclusion - or seriously.
From the advertiser's point of view, it is undoubtedly a successful campaign.
But in an era in which critics of television content have won the battle to force television manufacturers to install a computer chip allowing parents to block programs from their children's view, and have forced television to include ratings on its programs, I wonder if the USA campaign is very smart.
I'll admit that my home-satellite system - which has programming that includes much more useful rating information than the major networks are providing - for years has been set to block out USA based on the kinds of programming I've seen there. There was just too much stuff I didn't want my younger daughter accidentally stumbling across while channel surfing.
So, only with the secret parental code can we now watch USA - which I'll admit we do almost never.
That Sunday night line-up is pretty popular with lots of other cable and satellite viewers, however, particularly the program "Silk Stalkings," which tends to be one of the more highly rated cable programs.
Compared to prime-time national network hits such as "ER" or "Walker, Texas Ranger" or "The X-Files," the numbers for "Silk Stalkings" are minuscule. But in its realm, it does pretty well.
"Steamy Sunday Dramas" is how USA describes its line-up. And now we know that the point is to break as many of the Ten Commandments as possible.
Considering that polls in recent years have shown that a majority of Americans can't name even half of the Big 10, USA may not have that big a job.
Let's see. Most people might remember that murder is a no-no. And adultery. Isn't stealing in there?
Those, of course, are probably all fair game for the USA shows - as they are for lots of TV programs. But what about the others? "Have no other Gods before me." Don't make idols. Don't take God's name in vain. Keep the Sabbath holy. "Honor thy father and thy mother." "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Do not covet your neighbor's possessions.
Good heavens, which one of those isn't routinely broken on television dramas?
It makes you wonder how USA can promise to "break at least 20 percent more" of them than anyone else when the gamut seems to have been run. Perhaps the Federal Trade Commission could order a "truth-in-advertising" investigation of USA.
There is no doubt that sin - at least a hint of sin - sells. It works in newspapers, TV, popular music, movies, radio, ads for jeans. But usually the approach is a bit more subtle than the USA Network's.
This is the type of ad campaign that people such as Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association must eat right up.
Here's all the evidence Wildmon needs to "prove" that the TV networks are out to corrupt "truth, justice and the American way," drowning Mom, Dad, Junior and Sissy in a cesspool of video licentiousness.
For fund-raising purposes, it won't make any difference that USA isn't a "major" network. Or that the ad was intended to be funny. Or that any family that falls apart because its members watched "The Big Easy" on USA was in trouble anyway.
At a time when television is having a hard time holding its own on the First Amendment front - arguing that the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech should apply to it, too - this kind of advertising is likely to ignite more indignation from those who want more restrictions.
Maybe USA really ought to be paying closer attention to the apparent butt of its advertising joke - the hit Sunday night competition on CBS, "Touched By An Angel."
Perhaps CBS should run an ad promising to break "at least 20 percent fewer Commandments" on its network. Millions of viewers - who also wonder "What is the world coming to?" - might like that.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:by CNB