Study Says Commercials, Not Sports, Are The Issue
November 20, 2006

It's interesting when prominent entertainment industry players speak up against the content in popular media. One such voice was heard last week when Steven Spielberg made comments at the International Emmy's directors meeting in New York City regarding the amount of violence on television.

Said Spielberg, "I'm a parent who is very concerned. Today we need to be as responsible as we can possibly be, not just thinking of our own children but our friends' and neighbors' children. We certainly need to be responsible and careful about what we put into that box, because what comes out the other end truly has changed the world and will continue to change the world, for better or worse."

Yes, I'm sure we could find examples of works coming from Mr. Spielberg's company that contain what we might think to be gratuitous violence. Yet, I appreciate his remarks for all the obvious reasons, but also because it makes for a perfect introduction into a study published in Pediatrics magazine titled Unsafe and Violent Behavior in Commercials Aired During Televised Major Sporting Events. While the famous director was targeting his criticisms toward dramatic television programs, this study focuses on another area that receives less attention -- commercials aired during sports programs.

By their nature, sports programs are often considered to be reasonably family-friendly television, and after the literal fallout of Janet's wardrobe at the SuperBowl, many American families were enraged that they couldn't even share a game of football with their kids in the room.

However, this study indicates that while the football game or car race itself may be free from gratuitous violence or dangerous acts, it's the commercials in between the game play where the problem lies. After categorizing 1,185 commercials, these researchers discovered 14% of the advertisements displayed unsafe behavior and 6% depicted violence.

While those percentages may be small, they are still very significant when you look at when the ads were seen and how they were distributed. The 1,185 commercials were contained within 322 commercial breaks, and the problematic ads seemed to appear on a singular basis, meaning nearly half of all commercial breaks contained an advertisement with violence or unsafe behavior.

What kind of sports you watch will also dramatically increase the percentage of commercials with concerning content. The SuperBowl was the worst sportscast (it seems to be getting a bad rep, doesn't it?) with 48% of the commercials during the big game falling into either the "violent" or "unsafe behavior" categories. The best choice was the Masters Golf Tournament, which had no violent commercials and only 9% of its ads displayed unsafe behavior. (The golf tournament was also devoid of alcoholic beverage ads and had less commercial time overall.)

Another interesting facet to the grids of numbers: Commercials for movies had the highest percentage of violent content, coming in at 65%. Perhaps more surprisingly, the most commercials depicting unsafe behavior were ones advertising automobiles. (Are they telling me I really can't climb that mountain in my SUV?)

A 1999 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation indicated that children are attracted to sports programming. Given the content in so many other television shows and the time of day most sports telecasts air, I can understand the appeal, and why parents feel it may be one of the few TV genres families can enjoy together. However, many other researchers have shown how children -- especially those 8 years of age and under -- can be influenced by portrayals of violent and unsafe behavior.

I suppose there is some good news. The next time you are enjoying the big game with your kids, when the commercials come on you have even greater justification to have everyone head for the kitchen and get some snacks.

You can find this study here: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/114/6/e694

Rod Gustafson

Besides writing this column for the Parents Television Council, Rod Gustafson authors Parent Previews® - a newspaper and Internet column (published in association with movies.com) that reviews movies from a parent's perspective. He's also the film critic for a major Canadian TV station, various radio stations and serves on the executive of the Alberta Association for Media Awareness. Finally, his most important role is being the father to four wonderful children and husband to his beautiful wife (and co-worker) Donna.

Parenting and the Media by Rod Gustafson

The Parents Television Council - www.parentstv.org

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