{"id":53012,"date":"2026-10-19T15:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=53012"},"modified":"2026-10-19T15:33:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:33:00","slug":"how-soft-porn-ads-became-part-of-the-conversation-about-the-mlb-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/how-soft-porn-ads-became-part-of-the-conversation-about-the-mlb-playoffs.html","title":{"rendered":"How &#8216;Soft Porn&#8217; Ads Became Part of the Conversation About the MLB Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_53015\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53015\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/10\/MLB-Ads_credit-Left-Conor-P-Fitzgerald-Shutterstock-Right-Featureflash-Photo-Agency-Shutterstock.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-53015\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/10\/MLB-Ads_credit-Left-Conor-P-Fitzgerald-Shutterstock-Right-Featureflash-Photo-Agency-Shutterstock.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-53015\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Conor P. Fitzgerald \/ Shutterstock.com | Right: Featureflash Photo Agency \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As Taylor Murphy watched the Major League Baseball playoffs on Monday evening, he became increasingly disturbed by the broadcast\u2019s commercials. The father of five, who lives in Provo, Utah, took to social media to express his concerns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHey MLB \u2014 wanna get more kids watching baseball? Maybe start with the commercials,\u201d he wrote, going on to name a few of the ads that he found problematic.<\/p>\n<p>The post resonated with millions of people online, including his father, former National League MVP Dale Murphy, who shared the post with his followers on X.<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Alex Call also weighed in and made headlines with his post likening some of the advertising to \u201csoft porn\u201d and asking the league and TV networks to do better.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy son wants to watch baseball with Dada, but how do I justify that when a half-naked women could come on screen anytime?\u201d Call wrote on X.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Can we please get the soft porn ads off playoff broadcasts, TBS, Fox, NBC, @MLB? My son wants to watch baseball with Dada, but how do I justify that when a half-naked women could come on screen anytime?? This is America\u2019s Pastime. Parents shouldn\u2019t have to worry about this.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alex Call (@ACAD_27) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ACAD_27\/status\/2110269970575958189?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The league has not responded to the posts publicly and did not respond to a request for comment. But Murphy\u2019s post has brought to the light the concern many Americans have about the propriety of advertising that may be intended for adults but is also viewed by children.<\/p>\n<p>In comments on both Taylor Murphy\u2019s X account and Call\u2019s, people called on networks to stop showing ads that are inappropriate for children, including commercials for gambling, sexual dysfunction and horror films.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c100%. Thanks for saying this,\u201d one person wrote. Another wrote, \u201cThank you for having the courage to speak up about this.\u201d And one person suggested that Call lead a one-inning boycott for people who oppose the ads to flex their power as viewers and consumers.<\/p>\n<p>The conversation follows on the heels of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/olympics\/story\/_\/id\/49943513\/sydney-sweeney-ad-criticized-sexualizing-women-sports\">controversy<\/a> about an ad featuring the actress Sydney Sweeney, who posed nude, with parts of her body covered with sports equipment, for a sports trading app ad, Novig. It was the second time in a year that a Sweeney ad drew outrage; the last time was an ad for<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/opinion\/2025\/08\/06\/perspective-the-underlying-mystery-of-that-sydney-sweeney-ad\/\"> American Eagle<\/a> when she talked about her \u201cgood jeans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the American Eagle ad was defended in some conservative circles last year, the near-nudity in the Novig ad was condemned on both sides of the political aisle for sexualizing women in sports.<\/p>\n<p>A Megan Fox commercial for a sexual-dysfunction product has also drawn fire. Reporting on the ad for Variety magazine, Brian Steinberg wrote, \u201cThere are few nuances to Fox\u2019s appearance and what it\u2019s meant to inspire, and the new ad shows just how more direct pharmaceutical advertisers have become when tackling conditions that can be embarrassing or sensitive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not only sexualized commercials that are the problem, Taylor Murphy, 39, told the Deseret News. He\u2019s just as concerned about the commercials promoting horror movies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are graphic,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThese are scary. They are intended to capture adults\u2019 attention, and kids are innocent bystanders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said he grew up watching baseball nonstop, with his parents coming in and out of the room. Today, he says, he feels he has to be present with his hand on the remote when his children are watching baseball on TV, and look for ways to distract his sons while the commercials air.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether it\u2019s things that are inappropriate, with sexual themes, or really scary movie trailers, &#8230; the type of content was really frustrating me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Murphy said he didn\u2019t intend for the post to be \u201ca morality discussion\u201d but rather to point out to the league that such commercials ultimately hurt baseball if families tune out.<\/p>\n<p>Murphy, who has graduate degrees in both law and business from Brigham Young University, said these types of commercials run counter to the league\u2019s desire to attract young people to the sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love baseball,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a baseball purist, I just want baseball on TV. And I understand that they need to run ads to keep the lights on, but my view is those ads should be G-rated, or at the very highest, PG-rated. It is a little shocking that we have ratings for TV series, for movies and other content, but then for commercials, whatever happens is going to happen, is how it feels sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We need to have a conversation about commercials on national TV broadcasts. Specifically R-rated horror films.<\/p>\n<p>Really not trying to be a prude but I have my 4 y\/o turn away and cover ears 3-4 times when watching NFL, NCAA FB and other sports prime time content. It\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Eric Bearden (@eric_bearden) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/eric_bearden\/status\/2109820516106477840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Federal Communications Commission has rules that prohibit \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/consumers\/guides\/complaints-about-broadcast-advertising\">obscene, indecent or profane\u201d language and \u201cfalse or misleading<\/a>\u201d ads and can take action over an advertisement being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/media\/policy\/loud-commercials\">too loud<\/a>, but it generally falls to networks to decide what they want to air. In addition to the ads that Murphy and others cited, there have been television ads for Ashley Madison, the website that promotes extramarital affairs. A Washington Post analysis of references to gambling in sports broadcasts earlier this year found that \u201ca gambling reference, promotion or commercial occurred every four minutes on average\u201d in the segments the Post examined.<\/p>\n<p>Murphy said he doubts a single social media post will result in sweeping change in what advertising a network accepts, but that doesn\u2019t mean people shouldn\u2019t try to make their views known, and do what they can in their families and communities to uphold their values.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a society, we shouldn\u2019t be OK with content that\u2019s not suitable for children being publicly displayed like this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Dear @MLBONFOX,<\/p>\n<p>Please stop airing sexual commercial content.<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<br \/>\nEveryone trying to watch baseball with their kids<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kirk E. Miller (@KirkMiller_) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KirkMiller_\/status\/2110546486194847882?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 15, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cI want to communicate to the MLB that this is a logical, strategic recommendation. People will say, \u2018Well, it\u2019s men 50+ who are watching the MLB playoffs. That\u2019s who the target is. That\u2019s how advertising works.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo them I say, I understand that they can make more ad revenue today by running ads that appeal to 50-plus-year-old men. However, my recommendation to them would be to create a more wholesome, more family-friendly product. &#8230; If the goal is long-term growth of baseball, you want as many young people watching the game as possible. That should be your north star as an organization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/sports\/2026\/10\/16\/soft-porn-ads-mlb-playoffs-sydney-sweeney-alex-call\/\">Deseret.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Taylor Murphy watched the Major League Baseball playoffs on Monday evening, he became increasingly disturbed by the broadcast\u2019s commercials. The father of five, who lives in Provo, Utah, took to social media to express his concerns. \u201cHey MLB \u2014 wanna get more kids watching baseball? Maybe start with the commercials,\u201d he wrote, going on&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":630,"featured_media":53015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How &#039;Soft Porn&#039; Ads Became Part of the Conversation About the MLB Playoffs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A BYU grad called out inappropriate ads airing during the Major League Baseball playoffs. Then his famous dad and an L.A. 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