APRIL 23 TO 29 IS INTERNATIONAL TV TURNOFF WEEK

NOT WELCOME ON THE AIRWAVES ‹ Despite well-established links between
obesity, poor school performance, and excessive TV-watching, major
American and Canadian television networks appear to be stonewalling
attempts to air public service ads that promote responsible viewing.

The ads ­ created by the Vancouver-based Adbusters Media Foundation ­
promote the increasingly popular International TV Turnoff Week. Starting
on Monday, April 23, the campaign will be observed by millions of people
around the globe by swearing off their TVs ­ along with their computers,
video iPods and game consoles ­ for seven straight days.

The American Broadcasting Company has already rejected the ads outright,
while several other cable and broadcast networks have stalled attempts
to air the spots in time for the major anti-TV festival. This is a
repeat of developments in years past, when similar ads have been
rejected by the likes of CBS, NBC, ABC, MTV and FOX in the U.S., and
CBC, CHUM, and CanWest Global in Canada.

Since it¹s inception in 1994, International TV Turnoff Week has taken on
a life of its own, with events planned by individuals, schools and other
organizations in dozens of countries, including Australia, Brazil, the
United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, Taiwan, Italy,
the United States and Mexico. The U.S.-based TV Turnoff Network
estimates that in that country alone, 7.6 million people participated in
TV Turnoff 2004, with over 19,000 events spread across every state.

In years past, supporters have publicly smashed televisions, postered
schools and corporate offices, ran print ads and TV spots, and held
street demonstrations. For the past two years, these tactics have been
joined by a clever keychain-sized device ­ dubbed the TV-B-Gone ­ that
is able to remotely shut off virtually any television without lasting
damage. Participants have used the TV-B-Gone to silence TVs wherever
they encroach on communal spaces, including hotel lobbies, pubs,
doctors¹ offices and cafeterias.

For most participants, the goal of TV Turnoff Week is simply to shake up
routines and to get people questioning the massive role of TV and other
entertainment technologies in their lives. In light of estimates that
children in many developed nations average between 4 to 5 hours per day
of screen-time, teachers and parents concerned about school performance
and skyrocketing childhood obesity rates have proven to be some of the
most enthusiastic supporters of the week-long challenge.

Other participants see the popularity of TV Turnoff Week as the tip of
the iceburg in a growing media democracy movement. Adbusters has been
instrumental in turning TV Turnoff Week into an international statement
of resistance against media concentration and commercialization. Kalle
Lasn, the editor-in-chief of Adbusters, argues that ³just like our
oceans and air, our shared mindscape is also littered with pollutants ­
manipulative ads, gratuitous violence, bogus eroticism, and distorted
news. TV Turnoff Week is about cleaning up that mindscape.²

³During TV Turnoff Week we clear our minds and focus in on the very real
political and environmental crises that we currently face,² he said.
³Global warming is just one example of a crisis that has been
trivialized by the commercial and corporate influence over the media.²

As a part of what Adbusters has called ³mental environmentalism,² the
media democracy movement seeks to take a stand against a media system
that shuts out the voices of regular people and yet dominates the lives
of all citizens. Proponents make the case that allowing ownership of all
media to fall into the hands of a few corporations results in the denial
of a basic human right to communicate.

For more information and media interviews contact:
MEDIA LIASON: Clara Kuoch
TELEPHONE: 604.736.9401 € FAX: 604.737.6021
EMAIL: media-pr@adbusters.org

EDITOR¹S NOTES

[1] For more information on TV Turnoff Week, to view the spots, and for
links to country-specific sites, visit .
For more information of the global media democracy movement, visit
.

[2] TV Turnoff Week facts:
€ Following the lead set by several national and regional groups
across the world, Adbusters launched the first International TV Turnoff
Week in 1994.
€ Since 1995, 90% of participants who have responded to the TV
Turnoff Network¹s participant survey have said that they now watch less
television or watch more selectively as a result of participating. Fully
67% of those to respond have said that the changes in their viewing
habits may be or will be permanent. [TV Turnoff Network].
€ TV-B-Gone is available from Cornfield Electronics at
, or through the Adbusters Media Foundation at
.

[3] Facts about TV consumption:
€ The average person in the USA watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of
television per day, and the average US household has a television on in
the house for 8 hours per day [Nielson, 2006].
€ In 2005, the average US child spent more time in front of the
television (more than 1,500 hours) than in school (900 hours) [Neilson,
2005].
€ Canadian tweens ­ kids ages 7 to 12 ­ average 45% of their media
time watching TV, 14% on the internet, 12% on video games, 11% on music,
11% on radio, 6% on DVDs and 1% on cell phones. By comparison, teens
(ages 12 to 19) spend 25% of their media time on the Internet.
[Solutions Research Group for YTV, 2007].
€ Numerous major studies conducted in the USA, the UK, India,
Australia and elsewhere have established strong correlations between
high levels of TV viewing and poor school performance, as well as
childhood and adult obesity [consult the British National Literacy Trust
and the International Journal of Obesity
for a selection of relevant studies].