This May, MTV has decided to pull a Pro-Life television spot produced by Heroic Media. The ad is designed to reach out to young women in crisis pregnancies by reassuring them that they are not alone and that there are pregnancy resource centers to assist them. MTV has been airing this ad since May of 2010, and their decision to cease broadcasting the message came shortly after partnering with Planned Parenthood.
The thirty second ad in question is called “We Can Help.” It features a young woman who unexpectedly becomes pregnant and is struggling with emotions like fear, doubt, and uncertainty. A voice over then provides a 1-800 help line that will connect women with a local pregnancy resource center. Given MTV’s young demographics, this was an ideal way to use media to send out a Pro-Life message to the younger generation.
MTV is defending their decision to stop the ad as a form of protest against Heroic Media, the organization that also sponsored the controversial billboard in New York that showed an African American woman with the caption, “The Most Dangerous Place for an African American is in the Womb.” This billboard was designed to bring attention to the growing evidence that African American women are three times more likely to have an abortion than other races, but was removed within days. While the television ad in question did not employ such contentious tactics, MTV Senior Vice President Jeannie Kedas wrote, “Upon further review, it was hard for us to separate some of the recent tactics of the organization behind the ads themselves, so we have opted to not accept them for air at this time.”
It is important to note that the decision to stop airing “We Can Help” and to no longer accept new Heroic Media ads was made after MTV partnered with Planned Parenthood. In April 2011, Planned Parenthood and MTV joined forces to launch the “Get Yourself Tested” campaign which was promoted on both MTV and Planned Parenthood’s websites. MTV has also listed Planned Parenthood as an adoption referral resource on their website, despite the fact that Planned Parenthood’s 2009 fact sheet revealed they only made 977 adoption referrals while committing 332,278 abortions. MTV is also looking at airing Planned Parenthood public service announcement ads on their networks in the coming months.
Pro-Life activists and organizations need to take action to help Heroic Media get the ad back on MTV networks. MTV is the perfect platform to reach the youth of the world, and it is important that we do not cede this medium to anti-Life organizations. Please take a moment and contact MTV to reconsider their decision to ban Pro-Life ads at:
MTV Networks
c/o MTV Studios
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
http://www.mtv.com
To view the ad visit:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfu3ZebO4HM&feature=player_embedded