To Whom It May Concern

Guitar Rock Kills Infants!!!

As with any larger metropolitan city in the United States, Omaha has a large variety of radio stations to listen to. I listen to a lot of different kinds. I prefer guitar rock, from Led Zeppelin and Van Halen to Creed and Godsmack. I also listen to the top 40 stations, the 'lite 96' station that plays slow songs, and even the R&B stations from time to time.

Now, Saturday morning I was up very early and out in my car, and listening to the hard rock/alternative station in Omaha, when I hear this come on the radio:

Baby can be heard crying...

Man's voice, angry: "WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHUT UP AND QUIT CRYING??? WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO??? SHAKE IT OUT OF YOU???"

Woman's voice, caring, compassionate: "OH NO, you can't do that, give her to me, *you hear baby gurgling* there there..."

Then the commercial goes into talking about "Shaken Baby Syndrome", which is when a baby is shaken so hard that the brain smashes side to side, causing brain damage, paralysis, even death.

then, a really touching gesture, at the end, woman's voice: "There there now, everything will be okay now"

My first problem with this commercial is the completely blatant sexist tone that it takes, you are left with the idea that men are baby hating bastards, and that the woman has to rush in and protect the baby from the evil man. This is how the commercial should have been done:

Man's voice, annoyed: "Why won't she quit crying, this is so frustrating!!"

Woman's voice: "Honey, remember, she can't help it, she's just a baby"

Man's voice, more subdued and calm: "I know, you are right, I need to always remember that and have more patience with her"

Then go into the Shaken Baby Syndrome information and talk about ways of prevention. As you can see here, no one is made to look like the evil person. It's almost as though whoever made the first commercial went out of their way to completely alienate the man and make him look like some sort of raging moron.

The second problem I have with this commercial is the target audience. I listen to the light rock station, I listen to the top 40 station, and even the R&B station... at no time on any of them do I hear this commercial. But I turn on the classic rock and modern alternative rock stations, and I hear that commercial during about half the commercial breaks. What does this mean? Does this mean I put in my Guns N Roses CD, turn it up, and proceed to the nearest baby to shake the crap out of him/her? Seems to me that is what they are trying to imply. I'm driving down the road, listening to Linkin Park, and I spot a woman pushing her baby in a stroller, I hit the brakes so hard that the car SQUEEEEEAAAALLLLLLLLLLS to a stop, jump out, grab her baby, shake the baby as hard as I can, drop the baby on the ground, then jump back into my car and tear off again, listening to the radio as loud as it will go.

Now, although I listen to my radio very loudly sometimes, that is about the only truth you will find in what I just said. I wonder what particular research brought up that males who listen to hard rock music are more prone to shake babies, if there is some sort of undeniable link, someone should send me the information or provide me a link so I can read about it because it really sounds like a lot of bullarky to me. Just for an information purpose, in my hometown of 6,500 people, 2 babies died last year from being shaken, and women were charged in both the incidents. This doesn't mean women are more prone to doing it either, but to make this an issue based on the sex of the abuser is wrong and someone should have used a little foresight before making the commercial.