NBC contributed the latest example of advertising "standards and practices" hypocrisy when it cut a new Olympics spot from Nike spot off at the knees this week.

The spot, a parody of slasher movies, features runner Suzy Hamilton being chased through the woods by a chainsaw-weilding masked man. The Nike-clad Olympian easily outdistances the psycho, leaving him panting in exhaustion as supers pop up stating "Why sport? You'll live longer."

The network cited an unspecified "number of viewer complaints" as the reason for its flip-flop on the previously approved spot. Once again, advertising is being subjected to scrutiny that programming in the same media is spared from.

Other instances of this type double standard include the Fox Network's objection to a Super Bowl spot featuring a man driven up an elephant's derriere and ABC saying "no" to artificial noses.

It's hard to understand what this network censorship accomplishes other than giving media buyers another reason to shift to cable.