# NAEMT objects to Jackson-Hewitt Ad



## LucidResq (Mar 5, 2008)

And response to Jackson-Hewitt ad from the NAEMT

Any opinions? I think they're being a little dramatic. I wasn't necessarily offended by the commercial, but it didn't really sit with me well either for some reason.


----------



## trackmedic (Mar 5, 2008)

I disagree with any organization using their power or pull to tell others what they can say or do.  The ad was FCC compliant therefore is OK to air.  

This is the problem with our world.  We allow special interest groups to influence the way companies do business.  Can anyone say Imus?  Shouldn't the association be working on better things than policing TV ads?

I think we should all tell the association to apologize to Jackson-Hewitt for wasting their time with the letter and if they don't we should boycott the NAEMT.


----------



## Ridryder911 (Mar 5, 2008)

Although, I personally did not disagree so much with that particular ad, there has been others that I have. I DO endorse an organization to not promote our profession in the best light. I am member of an organization that writes producers and sponsors that portray nurses as "sex objects" and in a poor light.

I actually was proud to discourage the movie Skid Marks. It portrayed medics as non-intelligent idiots and giving harm and danger to others. Definitely, something we can do without! 

R/r 911


----------



## trackmedic (Mar 5, 2008)

Perhaps the best way to discourage commercial goods that are not popular with you is for you to not give them your business.  Is this not a free market?  There are many recent examples of how special interest groups are impeding on entertainment.  

Why should I suffer because you are offended by something that was created to be humor?  Humor is just that, humor.  It is OK to offend.  It is not against the law.  I think that everyone has forgotten that.

Many radio DJ's have been fired for imitating the voice of the Chinese food delivery guy over the air just because if offended a small group, not because of an FCC violation.  Pathetic.

I am sure the Jackson-Hewitt Ad was pulled because of corporate fear of offending someone.  Pathetic.

If you don't like what is on the TV, you have the control to change is.  I should have the choice to watch it without interferance from special interest groups.

Cleansing everything can only lead to the eventual deterioration of the First Amendment.


----------



## Ridryder911 (Mar 5, 2008)

Please let's not get where we have to have a code for everything. Every time someone wants not be responsible they start waving the 1'st Amendment flag. Hey, there is something that should not have to be regulated by the FCC and Government, it is called responsibility. 

Back when television had programs that families could watch and with a degree of entertainment and a plot, they had a Code of Ethics. Something that owners and managers were proud of. Unfortunate, most no longer practice.

Just like the personal rights of the individuals freedom of speech, one cannot just yell FIRE in a theatre, because they want to; there again is limits. Does the content really make a statement, is it relevant, can it be said without using profanity, rude and thoughtless comments?  Is the comments offensive to other or groups? One should be responsible on the content, the mannerism or gestures it is given.. all with taste of being within good conduct. 

FCC is only a regulatory organization. Shameful that they do not enforce the codes and fine the broadcasters more. Unfortunate these fines are much cheaper than the profit made off the offensive program. 

As a former DJ, you have a responsibility to the public in general. Alike EMS regulations, you cannot or should not have to regulate everything, again one should have enough professionalism to control itself without a ruling or code. Things can be said and performed without causing insult to others, it is called maturity and thoughtfulness. Something unfortunately the media has lost. 

R/r 911


----------



## trackmedic (Mar 5, 2008)

"Hey, there is something that should not have to be regulated by the FCC and Government, it is called responsibility."


You couldn't have supported my point any clearer.  The FCC regulates for the public, so why do all of the special interest groups step in to protect me and tell me what responsibility is?

I purchased my TV or VCR, and I have the power to change the channel or return the DVD and ask for a refund.  

Self-responsibility and accountability; A concept that I feel is lost on this country.  We just sit back and let everyone run the show for us.  Thank god for Al Sharpton.


----------



## Ridryder911 (Mar 5, 2008)

trackmedic said:


> " Thank god for Al Sharpton.



I can't believe anyone attempting to defend themself would use an Al Sharpton quote...whew!


----------



## Jon (Mar 6, 2008)

Wow.

I agree that the ad is in poor taste... but it is also meant to be humorous... how many times have they hacked doctors in commercials? How about the do-it-yourself surgery ad that is on TV now?


----------



## LucidResq (Mar 6, 2008)

I love the bit in the NAEMT letter about how the ad will make people reluctant to call 911. 

Puh-lease.... that's just insulting every American's intelligence. You would have to be extremely stupid to reconsider dialing 911 just because of a Jackson-Hewitt ad. 

Although people astound me with their unfathomable depths of idiocy on a daily basis, I just can't imagine a person deciding not to call 911 in an emergency because they saw a commercial depicting an EMT borrowing a patients oxygen.


----------



## seanm028 (Mar 6, 2008)

Anyone who would take that ad seriously and not call 911 because of it will probably find another stupid way to get themselves killed anyway, so I'm really not worried about that.  As for the "portrayal of EMTs in a bad light"... seriously?  If you're going to object to this, you have to go object to every single commercial that doesn't portray everything completely accurately.

It's like saying The Office should be taken off the air because Steve Carrell gives managers a bad name, or that Scrubs should be taken off because they joke around while on the job.


----------



## trackmedic (Mar 6, 2008)

Ridryder911 said:


> I can't believe anyone attempting to defend themself would use an Al Sharpton quote...whew!



It was irony...

Sarcastic humor....


----------



## BossyCow (Mar 6, 2008)

I don't get it.... we don't want people to hesitate to call 911 because we need more calls?????


----------



## JJR512 (Mar 7, 2008)

I wish I knew what all the fuss was about. But the link asks me for a username/password, so I can't see it.


----------



## seanm028 (Mar 8, 2008)

JJR512 said:


> I wish I knew what all the fuss was about. But the link asks me for a username/password, so I can't see it.



Ditto.  Go to their home page and a couple news articles down you'll find "NAEMT Reacts to Jackson-Hewitt Ad" with a working link.


----------

