The U.S. government has allowed prescription drug hucksters to come between patients and their doctors for over a dozen years now. Television commercials give consumers important medical information by using images of flowers, butterflies, smiling faces, puppies, and kittens. They also enrich our culture with the sheer poetry of those lists of side effects.
By unanimous consent, the Senate has passed the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act of 2009 (S. 2847), instructing the FCC to limit the volume of television commercials. Broadcasters will have to keep ad volume down to the level of the programs they are embedded in.
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sponsored the Senate bill, and Representative Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) introduced a similar bill in the House. The House bill (H.R. 1084) passed on a voice vote. We hope CSPAN kept the volume down.
More:
“U.S. Acts to Quiet Blaring TV Ads. Welcome to the 1960s,” John C Abell, Wired.
Update:
“Senate Outlaws Loud Commercials, But There’s More to be Done,” Bob Sassone, TVsquad.com
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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