Sponsor (July-Dec 1951)

Miss Alice Carle John F. Murray Adv. Agency New York City Dear Alice: That there Helen Trent shore is a popular program on WCHS! We alius knowed hit was a good un. but sumpthin had ter happen ter rewind us thet hit has a pile uv lisseners here in th' Charleston, West Virginny, area. T'other day a car hit a power pole near arr transmitter, and we win off th' air when Helen Trent wuz supposed ter be on. Swan ter goodness, Alice, yud a tho't th' world wuz acomin ter th' end! Th' ,d u r n e d telephones nearly rang offen th' wall — an' not jest ter a few minutes, but fur inter th' evenin' ! They wuz still cttllin offen on as late as ten o'clock affussin 'bout it! WCHS reely has lisseners, Alice. Thet's a good pernt ter 'member! Yrs. Algv WCHS Charleston, W. Va. ists receive anywhere from 50 to 200 viewer complaints each week. High on any list of complaints at networks, programs and publications, as well as the FCC, are questions of decency, sex. immodesty and other moral principles that have a Freudian angle. It's well for a sponsor to know the latest psychiatric thinking on this subject— a great many of these complaints are simply the result of overworked guilt complexes. They take many forms, these letters, and range all the way from obviously lunatic accusations to letters indicating a high degree of intelligence. Let's look at an average letter in this category. This shocker, written by someone who signed it anonymously as "A Chicago TV Viewer," was sent to NBC. The complaint was about a guest spot, featuring Rex Harrison, that had appeared on a Frigidaire TV show. The letter: "An actor, or so-called actor who can undress and dress in front oj thousands of people, maybe millions, and stand in front of the cameras with the front of his pants open and zip up the zipper is something I don't even call a ham. A moron is closer. . ." Actually, there was little to complain about. The guest spot in question was an adaptation of Noel Coward s famous one-acter, Red Peppers. In it. two vaudeville comics, one of them Rex Harrison, were having a backstage argument while they made a quick change from sailor suits to full dress. The whole thing was as innocent as a Sunday School picnic in Keokuk. Now, what makes people like "A Chicago TV Viewer"' take such a vitriolic and unnecessary slap at TV? Advertisers can find a good answer in a recent book by Dr. Albert Ellis, The Folklore of Sex. States the noted psychiatrist: *'Of the attitudes toward sex organs, desires and expressions, a distinct majority (65'v ) were liberal." In other words, more than six out of 10 Americans have no objections to sex talk, etc. in private. However, when it comes to the question of control of or censorship of sex. these same Americans don't cam ovej this liberal viewpoint. Continues Dr. Ellis: "Of the attitudes toward sex control and censorship that were found, a distinct majorit) 172', I were conservalhc." About seven out of 10 Americans, in effect, feel that sex should be watched over in public media with a strict hand. Most people, therefore, have two different attitudes about sex at the same time. Result: a kind of mental tug of war that makes people complain loudly about reference to sex in public— meanwhile feeling no qualms about their private sex references or expressions. It is this mental pull that eventually results in king-sized guilt complexes about sex, among some Americans, and which prompts letters like that of "A Chicago TV Viewer." Thus it is that a sponsor should take letters written by individuals who take a needlessly bitter stand on sex questions, with a grain of salt. He should not be alarmed at the amount of complaints he gets of this sort. Pressure groups and people who are off-balance mentally are decidedly more vocal in their protests and more free with their postage. And no matter how careful he is, a sponsor will always find himself receiving TV mail from people promoting an idea or working off a psychological quirk. Looking for constructive criticism, genuine complaints and a guide to the effectiveness of his commercials in TV viewer gripes is admittedly no easier for a TV advertiser than panning diamonds out of a ton of blue clay. But. it can be done. No sponsor is doing right by himself, or his show, if he tosses all the complaint letters into the ashcan and just saves the nice ones to show his friends. He is cheating himself of some valuable research source material, which comes to him at no charge, and which should be answered 100% for good public relations, if only by a form letter. It takes time and money, certainly. It takes a well trained staff of readers, either at an ad agency or an outside mail organization, to sift through the pile and make recommendations. But the results will tell a sponsor things about his show: that would be difficult WENE BINGHAMTON, N.Y. MARKET NOW 5000 ^ WATTS CALL RADIO REPRESENTATIVES, INC. 74 SPONSOR