By: Parents Television Council
For weeks we’ve been warning you about the wretched content on MTV’s Savage U, a sex advice program featuring columnist Dan Savage which is filmed on college campuses acrossAmerica.
The season concluded last night, but MTV has not yet announced whether or not it will be returning for a second season.
We need to act now to ensure sponsors and potential sponsors know exactly what they are getting when they buy ad time on Savage U.
Savage U isn’t any ordinary sex and relationship advice program… This isn’t like Dr. Ruth, or even MTV’s previous effort at a sex advice show, Loveline. Typically programs of this sort feature a medical doctor, psychologist, or at the very least someone with a professional background that equips them to give sensible and serious answers to serious questions about the most intimate act two people can engage in.
By contrast, Dan Savage’s background was writing a satirical advice column for an alternative weekly newspaper which was begun, by his own admission, with the express purpose of providing mocking advice to heterosexuals. Yet MTV has entrusted a man with no medical or psychological training to educate adolescents about sex.
Every episode is deeply imbued with a “if it feels good, go for it” hedonism that is personally and socially destructive.
Even worse, MTV assigned a content rating of TV-14, meaning that MTV says this content is appropriate for children as young as 14 years old! MTV’s own head of programming, David Janollari, has publicly stated he would be targeting children as young as 12. And Savage himself said that “we’re going to talk to these kids whether the parents want us to or not.”
The examples of the advice Savage gives to the pre-teen and teenage audience that constitutes most of MTV’s fan base are too explicit to recount here. If you must see for yourself, click here. But we warn you, the language is deeply offensive.
The companies that underwrite this content and make it possible for MTV to bring it into your home on weekly basis must be held accountable.
Please take action now by contacting Burger King and Subway. If sponsors knew what they were paying for, there’s no doubt most of them would quickly reconsider buying ad time on the show. Please take action now… Because Our Children Are Watching.