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This Ad Brought To You By A Cartoon
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The FCC is being asked to stop Nicktoons from airing a new cartoon series. Too violent? No. Sex? No. Then what? Turns out that the characters were originally developed to represent a line of Skechers sneakers. That, the complainants say, amounts to program-length ads. Maybe so, but, really, is it so horrible? When we -- okay, maybe not you, but I'm old enough -- were kids, there were commercial tie-ins galore. You know the Super Sugar Crisp Sugar Bear? He was a character on "Linus the Lionhearted," a whole Saturday morning cartoon made up of characters representing Post cereals (including a Post postman). On "The Flintstones," Fred and Barney hawked cigarettes and the whole cast promoted Welch's Grape Juice and Building Boulders (or did you think all those times Wilma served grape juice were simply a coincidence?). Kiddie show hosts did live spots directly pitching products to us. And we grew up okay. (AP)
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