Video controversy erupts at MTV over Sweet video

A CONTROVERSY has erupted in America over the rejection by music channel MTV of a video by Michael Sweet. The ex-member of Stryper (who in 1987 and 1988 landed three videos on MTV) claims that his new video "Ain't No Safe Way" has been turned down by MTV because of its strong sexual morality message.
The clip, directed by Stan Moore, depicts a young girl trying to seduce her date at a drive-in. She produces a condom and insists sex must be safe because they distribute condoms at school. As performance footage of Sweet backs the boy's struggle with the moral dilemma, statistics about the number of HIV positive Americans, the number of abortions performed, and the fact that condoms are only 85 per cent effective. Ultimately, the young man chooses abstinence, and at the end of the video the girl is seen trying to seduce another young man.
Sweet's video, like many other CCM videos by artists such as DC Talk and White Heart, was rejected by MTV. "I view it as cowardice," Sweet told American trade publication Billboard. The singer went on, "Everyone on MTV and VHI, any artist out there, is preaching for one cause or another, whether it be love or sex or drugs or death or murder. But when Christian artists come out and talk about their love for the Lord, then they are a bunch of fanatics and 'we can't play that'. That's the way the world works and that's real messed up."
MTV have cited that the video was rejected because it needed to give priority to hot new videos by Madonna and REM and because the clip did not meet the network's standards of quality. Responded Sweet, "I watch MTV occasionally to keep up with things and the buzz clips they play from new artists and new groups are really poor." Benson Music Group's VP of marketing Dave Lynch says label executives weren't surprised by MTV's response to the video. He said, "I think they are not playing it because it goes against everything the network stands for. You can turn on the network and watch for an hour and see examples of sex and violence and videos that promote all that stuff... Michael's video goes against all that sex before marriage. It just doesn't fit what they believe."