On this day in 1991: 1st TV condom ad aired (FOX- TV)

Start:	Nov 17, '09
Location:	U.S.A.

In 1975 KNTV in San Jose, California (an ABC affiliate) became the first U.S. Station to run a condom commercial for Trojan condoms. The spot aired despite a ban on commercials with contraceptives, per the National Association of Broadcasters. Due to the outcry from the public, the ad was "pulled out."

The award-winning police drama CAGNEY & LACEY/CBS/1982-88 was the first show to ever incorporate a condom scene. During one episode, when Detective Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) young son Harvey Jr. (Tony La Torre) learns her son is going on his first date, she opened a drawer, pulled out a condom, and gave it to her son.

In a later episode, Mary Beth's partner Christine Cagney (Sharon Gless) reunited with her boyfriend but warns him that she will not have sex unless he uses a condom.

In January 1987, San Francisco station KRON-TV becomes the first major market TV station in the U.S. to air a condom commercial.

On a February, 1987 episode entitled "Bad Timing" on the sitcom THE HOGAN FAMILY/NBC/CBS/1986-90 the word "condom" was used for the first time in a sitcom script.

In the summer of 1989 four San Antonio TV stations ran six weeks of trial commercials featuring an oral contraceptive manufactured by a Texas Company called Lexis Pharmaceuticals. John Bryer, Chief Executive of Lexis said in a TV Guide interview "It was the first time ever, anywhere, that an oral contraceptive was advertised on television."

During the 11/13/91 installment of THE TONIGHT SHOW host Johnny Carson remarked in his opening monologue that the FOX Network announced they would broadcast condom commercials in the near future. Carson questioned their decision wondering if it was "wise to advertise something that could eliminate your next generation of viewers."

In 2005, the WB and NBC networks made history by agreeing to air condom commercial during prime time viewing hours.

And to think we have Rupert Murdoch and Fox to thank!