The recent rejection of a commercial for Trojan condoms by Fox and CBS is "irresponsible programming" and the "height of hypocrisy" from networks that have been "taking sex to the bank," Vanessa Cullins, vice president of medical affairs for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, writes in a New York Times letter to the editor (Cullins, New York Times, 6/25).

The commercial, which premiered Monday night, features women at a bar surrounded by pigs. When one pig goes to the restroom and returns with a condom purchased at a vending machine, he is transformed into an attractive man. The end of the commercial carries the message: "Evolve: Use a condom every time." The ad will run on ABC, NBC and nine cable stations, including MTV, Comedy Central and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. In addition, print ads will appear in 11 magazines, including Cosmopolitan and Glamour, and on seven Web sites. All of the ads highlight a Web site trojanevolve.com.

Fox in a letter to Trojan said it rejected the ad because contraceptive "advertising must stress health-related uses rather than the prevention of pregnancy." CBS in a rejection wrote that the ad was not "appropriate" for the network "even with late-night only restrictions" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/20).

Fox's "excuse" is "stunning" because preventing unintended pregnancy, and "planning and spacing healthy, wanted pregnancies, are in fact major public health issues," Cullins writes, adding that PPFA "knows that for sexually active people, condoms are the best way to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections" (New York Times, 6/25).