Send Your Letter of Support for DISH TV
I read on Metafilter that Mullah Wildmon (aka Reverend Wildmon) is at it again, calling out the flock to protest use of the word "suck" in current advertising by the Dish Network to describe their competitor, cable TV. Here's their complaint:
DISH Network commercial teaches kids to use crude languageDISH Network (EchoStar Communications) is airing ads that repeatedly use the phrase "sucks" to describe how cable TV compares to their DISH Network. Here's how one customer described it:
The [ad] campaign is simply a constant reiteration of the phrase "TV SUCKS". My children were not allowed to speak like that in our home, and they are following suit by instructing our grandchildren in the same manner.
Another supporter said:
I am very offended by a current commercial of Dish Network where two women are in a living room and the television is acting like a magnet and pulling things towards it. The dialogue goes something like this: First woman: "What's that?" Second woman: "My TV sucks." First woman: "Your TV sucks?" Second Woman: "Yeah. . .doesn't yours suck?" This commercial is such a problem because my two-and-a-half year old will stop what she's doing to watch it and I have to desperately fumble for the remote.
You can view the ads for yourself at www.suckfreetv.com
We believe the DISH Network ads are teaching children imitative behavior and language most parents disapprove of.
Please send an email to DISH Network (EchoStar Communication) and let them know you are offended at their casual use of crude and inappropriate language.
Send Your Letter Now!NOTE: If you see a commercial or program which is offensive, email us the information. Many of you have done this, and it is very helpful.
Note from Amy: If you see a commercial program which is offensive, email me, so I can be sure to watch it. Sexually offensive only, please. Violence makes me squeamish. I do find it hilarious that they're accusing DISH of teaching kids crude language. Hello? Been around any kids lately? They don't need anybody's help.
Protest letter link is here, but they make you register for fundamentalist spam, so you can also email this address (executivecustomerservice@echostar.com). I encourage you to write DISH chairman Ergen in support of free speech, and protesting the fringe nutwads who seek to control the lives of the rest of us. Here's the email I wrote:
Dear Chairman Ergen,As a fierce advocate of free speech, I wholly support the use of "suck" in your advertising, and encourage you not to bow to American fundamentalists who seek to use their irrational belief in god to control the lives of the rest of us.
By the way, I have Dish, and get a nice package of cable channels, DVR, and TV5 from France, and just love it.
Keep up the great work!
-Amy Alkon
Why just suck
Why not harsher words
They are a great ploy for advertisment
Reid-- at August 25, 2005 1:44 AM
The term "sucks" in that context offends me, too. Not because of what (it implies) is being sucked, but because it's lazy and a cliche.
But God knows, people use it. Not worth writing a letter about. Besides, you want TV service that "sucks," sign on for Adelphia.
Todd Everett at August 25, 2005 3:19 PM
I wholeheartly agree with you. We have bigger problems in our society to devote our time to. Thanks for seeing the bigger picture and taking a educated stance!
alistair at August 25, 2005 4:56 PM
I say Rev. Wildmon should be tied to chair and forced to watch every episode of South Park, including the movie.
Patrick the cynic at August 25, 2005 5:29 PM
If Rev. Wildmon were to watch the South Park movie, his reaction might be something like this
LYT at August 25, 2005 5:33 PM
Patrick- better yet, force him to watch South Park version of The Aristocrats! On Pay Per View!
eric at August 25, 2005 5:59 PM
But it's all about the CHILDREN!! We must protect the CHILDREN. Of course, we expect nanny government and corporations to protect the little darlings (I have one, a son aged 8). Heaven forbid that I as a mother should actually PAY ATTENTION to what is on the TV my child is watching. Parents the word is: NO! And there is something called an OFF BUTTON for crying out loud. Offensive commercials come on while you are watching a particular show, or during a particular newscast? STOP watching it where your munchkins can see it. Tape it and watch after they've gone to bed--you do put them to bed at a reasonable hour, don't you?? NO?
"But I can't control the commercials like I can the TV program," you tell me. Bullpuckies!! The same ads are on the same shows. I watch a particular news broadcast at a particular time. I can tell you which ED commercials are followed by which car commercials followed by which heartburn/gas remedy ads. The same is true for the other channels and shows. PAY ATTENTION and TAKE CONTROL.
Thank you, it felt good to get that off my chest.
AdoringFan at August 25, 2005 6:51 PM
I have this fantasy where the president or somebody equally as influential gets up on national TV and tells everyone to turn off their gawddamn squawkboxes and go do something that makes you happy, wealthier, or healthier. Just do something.
My teachers always did say I have an active imagination.
Charlie at August 25, 2005 9:59 PM
Actually, what's pretty hilarious, come to think of it, AF, is that DISH has DVR, which allows you to fast-forward through the commercials! I'm totally with you. Have children? Maybe you should...perish forbid...parent them!? I wasn't allowed to watch TV as a child. I read every book, save the stuff on sports (except for a book on Jesse Owen), in the Farmington Hills public library; some of them twice or three times. I used to know everything. I've since forgotten everything, but I read a lot of anthropology.
Amy Alkon at August 25, 2005 11:48 PM
"I used to know everything. I've since forgotten everything, but I read a lot of anthropology."
That's okay, dear. I'm here for ya! (grin)
There is a reason to oppose the "suck" campaign. As Robert Heinlein observed, the mark of a society in decline is the celebration of rudeness. That it takes great effort to be gracious among clods doesn't help this, so long as clods can be accepted.
Radwaste at August 26, 2005 5:23 AM
DEAR SIR...I LIKE TO SAY THAT TODAY TV SHOWS ARE NOT KNOW GOOD...THEY MAKE THE OLD SHOWS LOOK REAL GOOD SHOWS..THE OLD TV SHOWS DID NOT HAVE THE BAB LANGUAGE OR VOLENCES...SHOWS THAT WAS MADE IN THE 30.S--40.S-50;S-60;S-UP UNTIL 75-OR S0...
THINK YOU
MIKE at September 23, 2005 6:19 AM
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