日前，保洁公司正在美国进行一项社会调查，以决定他们是否应更改其在MTV和BET上的广告。

家用品商不满在电视和电台播出的广告，认为那些广告有损保洁公司的形象。

保洁公司因广告宣传片中的内容过于冷漠或过分敏感而受指责由来已久，因此，保洁公司采取了一项“不寻常”的措施——设立一个免费热线，任何人都可以就公司是否应该“改变我们的广告”投“赞成”或“反对”票。尽管投票的结果只将与“公司中适当的人分享”，这一举措对保洁公司来说，仍是“不同寻常”的。

长期以来，保洁公司的广告因贬低妇女、美化暴力和毒品交易、过分展示性，以及将黑人描述成暴徒等内容而备受批评。

P&G to public: You make call on vid issues
By DAVID HINCKLEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, April 28th 2008, 4:00 AM

Procter & Gamble is asking America whether it should "change our advertising" on MTV and BET.

The household-products monolith doesn\'t like its ads appearing in television or radio places that could tarnish the P&G image, and there have been complaints for years that MTV and BET traffic too heavily in videos that degrade women, glorify violence and drug dealing, overemphasize sex and portray black men primarily as thugs.

So P&G has taken the unusual step of setting up a toll-free number, 1-800-331-3774, where anyone can vote "yes" or "no" on whether the company should "change our advertising" on MTV and BET. While there\'s no option for an explanatory message, P&G will accept faxed comments at its consumer relations department, (513) 983-2881.

Defenders of videos say most are not explicit and many are modern-day cartoons that are not taken literally by the viewers they are designed to entertain.

Both MTV and BET say they review videos. MTV for years has asked for re-edited versions of anything it considered inappropriate.

Still, P&G apparently wants to take the national temperature on the issue.

P&G has been criticized over the years both for being indifferent and too sensitive to the content of programming where its products are advertised.

It often lands at the center of content controversies simply because its product line and thus its advertising reach are so vast.

P&G\'s hundreds of products include such household names as Tide, Charmin, Bounty, Old Spice, Febreze, Head & Shoulders, IAMS, Pepto-Bismol, Vicks, Duracell, Ivory soap, Max Factor, Gillette, Crest and Pampers.

So it wants a clean corporate image, because paper towels depend on patronage from every segment of the market.

Recently, P&G pulled its advertising from radio\'s Michael Savage show after complaints that Savage became too vitriolic in his criticism of Muslims. Last year, P&G was one of the companies whose withdrawal of advertising helped killed Don Imus\' MSNBC show, and several years back, it pulled its ads from Dr. Laura Schlessinger\'s show after she was criticized by gay activists.

Last week, it seemed to defuse an ongoing complaint when two gay characters on the P&G-sponsored soap opera "As the World Turns" broke a 211-day drought and shared an on-screen kiss. Critics had suggested concerns about P&G\'s image were behind the fact Noah and Luke did not show the same affection as straight couples.

P&G has a history of acknowledging such concerns, whatever its response. But setting up a yes-or-no hotline vote is still an unusual step.

While all advertising is researched, that normally means carefully selected focus groups, not random phone calls.

The obvious danger is that a small group can skew the results with an organized campaign that doesn\'t accurately reflect broader sentiment.

P&G\'s phone message for the poll promises only that the results will be "shared with the appropriate people in our company."

With some companies, this would sound like a cosmetic gesture. Given P&G\'s history, maybe not.