Dear [Advertiser CEO]:
On behalf of the Parents Television Council's nearly one million members, I'm writing to let you know that, because of your sponsorship of FX's Nip/Tuck, we believe [Advertiser Name] is responsible for the most graphic, foul and objectionable content on basic cable. You may not be aware of the messages your corporation is being associated with and that's why it is important for you to see firsthand how awful this program is.
The enclosed content examples are taken from the first two episodes to illustrate the explicit sexual scenarios and the gory scenes of violence. Since words do not adequately portray these examples, I am willing to provide video tape clips of these scenes to further demonstrate the offensive nature of this program so that you can see it firsthand. Depictions of anal and oral sex have been shown, as well as a man performing his own circumcision! And those are just a few examples of what your corporation is paying for. The creator of this show was quoted in the media as saying, "I wanted to do something so violent it will shock even me."
[Advertiser CEO], our message to corporations on this important issue is clear: sponsorship of sexually graphic or violent content can fairly be said to be a reflection of corporate values. Does this kind of show really reflect your corporate values? If the messages within Nip/Tuck are not what you wish to sponsor with your advertising, please withhold your advertising dollars from the show until it is no longer filled with titillating sexual escapades and utterly gratuitous scenes of violence and disfigurement. We will be letting our members know of those corporations that continue to support the graphic content on Nip/Tuck with their advertising dollars.
I hope that civic duty and corporate responsibility - - not to mention good sense and taste - - are reflected in your future advertising decisions. Parents are outraged by the sex, violence and foul language on broadcast television and on expanded basic cable. They simply cannot fight the battle alone. They need business leaders like you to be mindful of the messages they are paying for with their company's advertising dollars.
Please do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions. I am available to discuss this important issue with you if you like.
Sincerely,
Content Examples from Nip/Tuck:
GRAPHIC SELF-CIRCUMCISION SCENE: Dr. McNamara's son, Matt, performs a circumcision on himself at home. Since his girlfriend is turned off by his extra foreskin, Matt decides to go to a website and learn how to perform the operation on himself. Matt removes his pants. We see Matt's upper body. We hear the instructions going on in his head: "For the first cut, grip the foreskin and pull it out. Cut in circular motion in a thin quarter inch strip." We see him looking down as he cuts at the foreskin of his penis. We see him shudder, then he looks at his hand, which is covered in blood. He faints.
FOUL LANGUAGE: In describing a liposuction he did on a patient's chin, Dr. Troy says: "I sliced that bitch's waddle off 15 months ago." ... Drs. McNamara and Troy talk about a patient who wants to have sex with the latter in return for not reporting a surgical error; Troy says, "Are you actually telling me to stick my dick in the Crypt Keeper to make your mistake go away?" ...Words like asshole, shit, tit, and dick are commonplace
In a recent episode, Kimber says: "I'm the one with candle wax burns on her ass. I'm the one standing out on the street corner with her tits hanging out. I bust my butt to fulfill every sexual desire you have. I want a little goddamn appreciation."
Other examples of foul language:
Troy: "20 milligrams of Vicodin and a blowjob will clear that right up."
Troy: "You know what they say, for every beautiful woman there is a guy who is tired of screwing her."
Troy: "You are the hottest piece of ass in this place. And you're mine. But if I am going to do this one woman thing, I can't be with just one woman."
Lexy: "I read this thing in People about 12 year-olds giving blow jobs to their Secret Santas. It's just kids being kids these days."
Robert: "Good parents teach their son how to keep his dick in his pants, and to be smart enough to not try to cut it off."
Julia: "You asshole."
Julia: "Bullshit, Christian."
Sean: "Shit I forgot, Julia wants to have some kind of family meeting with those girl's parents tonight."
SORDID PLOT SITUATIONS: Dr. Troy brings Matt to a party thrown by a pornographic movie company, where Matt meets a "fluffer," a woman who is paid to perform oral sex on male porn actors in an effort to keep them erect between scenes in films. Matt tells the girl that he's an agent so that she'll have sex with him. In turns out that the woman has a sexually transmitted disease and that Matt is at risk of being infected. Verbatim dialogue from this scene:
Matt: "So, tell me, what exactly does a fluffer of your caliber do?"
Actress: "Give head to guys to keep them hard and stuff in between shots."
Matt: "Cool. So, um, fluffing all day, that's got to be a real turn off, after a while, right."
Actress: "Um, Actually, it gets me really horny. That's why I have to keep sucking on these [lollipops]." She sucks the lollipop off the stick and then escorts Matt to a more secluded area...
In a subsequent episode, Matt is having a threesome with Ridley and Vanessa. They are all naked on Matt's bed. Ridley or Vanessa appears to be playing with Matt's penis when Julia walks in on the three of them.
EXPLICIT SEX: At the beginning of an episode we see Dr. McNamara attempting to have anal sex with his wife in the shower. The anal sex is implied, but you can see from the wife's reaction of shock and surprise what he is trying to do ... In another episode we see Dr. Troy having sex with a model. He rips off her underwear and begins to massage her buttocks. Then we see her face, with him behind her, and the camera closes in on her face as she licks her lips. We watch the doctor gyrating behind her. Next we see the doctor naked from behind; we see his backside, and the woman is crouched in front of him, hands rubbing his backside, insinuating that she is giving him oral sex. Then we see the doctor behind the model again, apparently engaging in anal sex with her, thrusting into her multiple times, as she moans in ecstasy, and he proceeds to smack her on the behind. During this portion of the sex scene, we can see the model's bare breasts. We then see Dr. Troy do a line of cocaine off the model's naked behind as they are having sex. We continue to watch Dr. Troy driving into her from behind and gyrating against her until he orgasms and yells in ecstasy.
In another scene we see Dr. Troy and Jen making out in a tanning booth. They are kissing passionately and ripping each other's clothing off. We see Dr. Troy pull her shirt off. They start to have sex and then Jen says: "Too early in the morning for ya baby?" Dr. Troy responds: "Help me out then." Jen's head then moves off screen and we can see the upper half of Dr. Troy's body. It is implied that Jen is performing oral sex on him. Then he starts to see Jen as Julia, Dr. McNamara's wife. We see Julia's body but hear Jen's voice: "Christian, can you help me out here. I'm getting lock jaw."
In a recent episode, to spice up their sex life, Kimber pretends to be a hooker, and Christian pretends to be a John picking her up off the street. They are shown having sex in the front seat of his car. She is in her bra, with a small skirt on. She is on top of him gyrating up and down. Then she appears to perform oral sex on him as we see her head in his lap, and Christian moaning. This continues until Kimber begins to bump her head on the roof of the car.
One episode features a "swingers' party," which is explained by Mia: "Think of the scene as a sexual buffet, with the finest of gourmet foods. You can eat all you want or you can nibble. For your protection each of the rooms comes with a complete array of condoms." Kimber asks: "Rooms?" Mia answers: "Pleasure chambers. Orgy. Voyeur. Role play. Girl on girl." Soon we see Kimber and another woman on a couch, kissing. The other woman places Kimber's hand on her breast. Kimber looks uncomfortable at first, but then she removes the other woman's top. We see the woman start kissing Kimber's chest and then she goes down to her knees. It is implied that they engage in oral sex. We see Troy watching, and are shown Kimber's face, as she appears to be enjoying it.
GRAPHIC SURGICAL SCENES: We watch as Dr. McNamara performs liposuction on Perez. We see McNamara place a liposuction tube under Perez's skin and begin to suck out the fat, which can be seen moving through the tube. We can see McNamara moving the tube under Perez's skin. Perez is awakened by his brother in the middle of the procedure, and he attacks McNamara while he is holding the tube with fat in it. Fat begins to spray all over the room and all over those in the room. We see people covered in human fat.
In another surgical scene, we see Troy and McNamara performing surgery on twins who want to look different. We see McNamara, with blood on his hands, breaking one girl's nose. We see Troy cutting into the other girl's leg. We see the incision being made and blood running from it. We see McNamara cutting a girl's ear, to shape it. We see bloody cuts being made around a girl's abdomen. We see Christian stuffing a calf implant into one twin's leg. We see Troy injecting solution into a twins' breasts, and we watch the breasts expand.
In a subsequent episode, Dr. McNamara decides to complete his son Matt's circumcision himself. Matt then decides he is finally ready to have sex with his girlfriend, Vanessa, but before he can do so he discovers that she is cheating on him – with another girl.
In another plot line, we see the doctors performing an operation on a patient: the skin is pulled back and the organs and viscera are exposed. There is a lot of blood and a very graphic depiction of cutting and pulling back of skin. Dr. McNamara removes a bloody mass of tissue and tosses it onto a scale, then the doctors staple the patient's stomach back together.
In a recent episode, the doctors perform breast reduction surgery on a man. We see them cut around the nipple, pull it up and liposuction the fat from his chest. We see lots of blood and fatty tissue.
TORTURE: We watch as Dr. Troy is strapped to a chair and Escobar jams needles into his face and through his pants into his penis to inject him with multiple shots of Botox.