A barrier of sorts was broken a little over a decade ago when station KRON in San Francisco became the first major television station to lift the ban on advertising condoms. On Jan. 16, 1987, KRON executives decided to start advertising condoms as a way of fighting the spread of AIDS. Their client was Trojan, which has more than half of the market in the United States. The money would go to AIDS research. Since then, under the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many ads featuring condoms have been broadcast. When KRON started the practice, it was considered controversial and daring. Many other stations rejected the ads, fearing the commercials might be seen as advocating the use of such devices for birth control.

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