Topic: Ad Council

The U.S. government and the Ad Council have released a public service announcement featuring the Sesame Street character Elmo getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Simultaneously, FDA advisors have voted to update boosters to target the Omicron variant for a projected fall surge. The hosts criticize the media buy and the lack of traditional clinical trials for these updated formulations.

Google and YouTube have announced a new policy to prohibit ads and monetization on content that promotes climate change denial. This includes claims calling climate change a hoax or denying that human activity contributes to global warming. The Ad Council is also noted for running "creepy" public service announcements regarding the urgency of climate action.

The Ad Council and the COVID Collaborative released a guide for healthcare workers on how to address vaccine hesitancy specifically within Black communities. The document advises against simply stating "the science is solid" and instead suggests emphasizing the diversity of participants in clinical trials to build trust.

The Ad Council and Sesame Workshop released new public service announcements targeting different demographics. One features Oscar the Grouch telling children to wear masks so he doesn't have to see their "happy smiling faces," while another uses mac and cheese imagery to encourage adults to research vaccine facts.

The hosts critique a series of Ad Council public service announcements, including "Discover the Forest" and a campaign encouraging children to use smaller plates to prevent obesity. They characterize these ads as a waste of public money and a form of "1930s-style" social engineering. The "small plate" campaign is mocked as a directive for "slaves" to limit their consumption.

A video on the Fatherhood.gov website, produced by the Ad Council, depicts a daughter giving her father a manicure and painting his nails red. The imagery of a tattooed man receiving nail polish from his daughter is criticized as part of a broader "pussification" of the country. Alternative bonding activities like oil painting, drawing, or reading are suggested as more appropriate than cosmetic treatments.

A listener inquiry regarding the prevalence of Ad Council commercials leads to an explanation of the television advertising cycle. The hosts explain that after the heavy spending of the fourth quarter, January is a "light" month for paid ads, forcing networks to fill time with free Public Service Announcements. They clarify that these PSAs are fillers used to maintain the standard 40-minute content to 20-minute ad ratio.