PTC Takes Issue With CW's 'Gossip'

-By John Consoli

The Parents Television Council is on the warpath again, this time taking issue with The CW network’s marketing campaign promoting its freshman drama Gossip Girl.

The new CW print and online campaign includes an ad that has the letters OMFG and pictures what the PTC believes is a “sexually suggestive photo showing a teenage boy kissing a girl’s cleavage.”

“The Parents Television Council deplores the CW’s deliberate use of profanity and sexual imagery to exploit and further corrupt young viewers, and has warned its members about the show and the new ad campaign,” a representative of the PTC said. “Teenagers are a particularly vulnerable audience and are more apt to be influenced by the programming they watch than adults.”

The PTC said Gossip Girl is “the most-watched show among girls 12-17 and glamorizes casual sex and drug use among teens. Storylines have featured a would-be teen rapist, threesome among teens, and teenage girls having sex with adults.”

CW officials could not be reached for immediate comment, but have not commented publicly on other recent complaints the PTC has raised about its shows.