Everybody has seen ads on TV for erectile dysfunction medications. Whether you love the couple sitting in their individual outdoor bathtubs in the Cialis commercials, or hate those Viagra commercials with the over-used “Viva Viagra” song, it makes no difference. The advertisements for ED treatments are highly visible on television. But do people really think these very tame ads are obscene? A congressman from Virginia certainly thinks so.

Last week, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) introduced a bill to congress that would cause ED product advertising to fall under the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) enforcement of indecency. This would ban broadcasters from airing erectile dysfunction drug ads between 6 A.M. and 10 P.M.

The FCC defines an indecent broadcast as one that contains language or material that depicts or describes sexual organs in a way that is offensive to the contemporary community.

It’s surprising to think that present-day society could consider erectile dysfunction, a medical condition, offensive. Rep. Moran’s bill would also affect male enhancement product ads, but male enhancement products and erectile dysfunction products are completely different. Enhancement products are purely for vanity/cosmetic purposes, whereas ED products are for treating a medical condition. The two product groups are clearly separate, and that is usually depicted in their different advertising styles (think Cialis’ bathtub couple vs. Enzyte’s Smilin’ Bob).

It is interesting to note that, in addition to sexual organs, the FCC’s definition of an indecent broadcast also includes excretory organs or activities. Is anybody thinking about Depends commercials right now? I sure am. But I don’t see a congressman trying to get incontinence products banned from the air.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Rep. Moran’s bill. He was unsuccessful in the past when he tried to introduce the bill, but if the bill passes, the FCC can dish out fines up to $325,000 to stations that air the “indecent” material.

If the congressman has a wife, she must feel like garbage though, knowing her husband thinks of sex as indecent.