A Tennessee state senator is tired of girls going wild on raunchy late-night TV ads, so he introduced a bill to fine cable companies up to $50,000 for airing ads for obscene products.
Sen. Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, said he got the idea after seeing commercials for "Girls Gone Wild" videos that show young women baring their breasts and acting out other sexual situations.
"This is being interjected right into our living room," Jackson said Friday. "People feel like, as they sit in their living rooms, they just have to surrender; there's nothing that can be done.
"The more I thought about it, I said, 'You know, it's time to draw the line,'" he said.
The bill would make it illegal to run advertising for "any obscene matter" and would apply to any station that knowingly accepted the ads.
Jackson calls the measure his "Girls Gone Wild Be Gone Bill."
An attorney for Mantra Films Inc., the Santa Monica, Calif.-based owner of the "Girls Gone Wild" brand, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
Jackson said he expects wide support for his measure.
"Most people and most parents in the state of Tennessee will cheer this bill because they know as long as (cable companies) are making money, it will only get worse," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Cable TV generally does not fall under Federal Communications Commission regulations on obscene material because it is not broadcast over the airwaves.
Jackson said he is unimpressed by cable companies that limit potentially offensive material to late-night hours.
"That's a voluntary standard on their part," he said. "Next year they might decide to run them at 9 p.m."
Jackson said state law already prohibits the public sale of obscene items, and that transmitted advertisements reach a wide audience that could include children.
"This isn't an adult bookstore with darkened glass," he said.
Jackson said he has not heard much criticism from the cable industry — yet. "But I guarantee it will be there," he said. "It's all about money. It's all about the almighty dollar."