TAMPA, Fla. Jan 3, 2005 — Radio giant Clear Channel
Communications has come under fire from women's health advocates over
a Christmas contest in which stations granted breast enlargement surgeries
to women in four cities.
In the "Breast Christmas Ever" contest, 13 women were awarded
the procedure after writing essays to the stations explaining why they
wanted larger breasts. A Tampa station claimed to receive more than 91,000
entries.
Clear Channel said it had nothing to do with the contest and that it
was a decision by local station managers to hold the promotion. The contest
was aired on Clear Channel stations in Tampa, Jacksonville, St. Louis
and Detroit.
The contest has drawn the ire of both the National Research Center for
Women & Families and the National Organization for Women. NOW has
urged its supporters to file complaints with the Federal Communications
Commission against Clear Channel and its stations.
The controversy comes within months of Clear
Channel paying a record $1.75 million fine to resolve indecency complaints
against New York-based shock jock Howard Stern, Tampa radio personality
"Bubba the Love Sponge" and others. The station formally agreed
to "clean up its act," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said in June.
While neither women's group is alleging the breast surgery contest violated
decency standards, they are complaining the contest promotes potentially
dangerous surgery and leaves its winners with no legal remedies should
the surgery go awry. Under the rules, winners must be at least 18 and
sign a waiver protecting the company from all liability claims.
"I try not to be judgmental about whether a large radio station
should be giving away free toys to children instead of free breast augmentation,"
said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women
& Families, a health advocacy organization.
NOW is urging the public to send e-mails to Clear Channel and the FCC
to complain about what it considers a "degrading and unethical contest."
About 3,400 messages have been sent to the FCC and Clear Channel, NOW
said Monday.
Jennifer Gery, a spokeswoman for Clear Channel, said the company had
no oversight of the contests and didn't sponsor them.
"There is no reason to be concerned because it's not a Clear Channel-sponsored
contest, Gery said. "We empower our local manager to make programming
decisions."
David Fiske, a spokesman for the FCC, said the agency does not regulate
the content of radio station contests unless it violates decency standards.
The FCC only requires radio stations to conduct contests exactly by the
stated rules and to fully disclose the terms of the contest.
NOW has been active in lobbying the Food and Drug Administration against
the marketing of silicone breast implants and has an ongoing "Love
Your Body" campaign aimed at countering what it says are unrealistic
body images promoted in the entertainment industry.
