The decision has been criticised by the charity that created the ads, the Aids Healthcare Foundation, which is threatening to approach US broadcast regulator the Federal Communications Commission to rule on the decision.
The ad shows two men going home together from a nightclub, followed by Phil the Sore. The next morning, one man leaves and the other says "Let's do it again sometime". Phil the Sore then starts calling in all the members of his family, who are symptoms of syphilis, such as brain damage, blindness and rash. The campaign was created by San-Francisco based agency Better World Advertising, and also features print and outdoor advertising.
The television ad has already run for five weeks during the summer on cable stations in the Los Angeles area, but the new campaign was due to run on local CBS and NBC networks. It has been rejected outright in virtually every timeslot by both networks, while WB, UPN and Fox have only offered slots after 11.30pm.
Michael Weinstein, president of the Aids Healthcare Foundation, blamed the effect of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" in January, where she flashed a breast during the Super Bowl, for having the networks running scared, but accused them of having double standards.
"From 'Desperate Housewives' to 'The OC' to the number-one rated show on television, CBS's own 'CSI,' I can't understand how this paid public service announcement doesn't meet public or FCC broadcast standards any more than these programmes that air weekly at 8pm or 9pm," Weinstein said.
The charity has now dubbed CBS as "Censorship Breeds Syphilis", and pointed out that the disease had already been the subject of an anti-censorship campaign during the 1920s and 1930s.
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