Should Procter & Gamble continue running ads on TV series that attract hordes of howling protesters, or stop doing so? That’s the question North America’s biggest advertiser has begun asking consumers.

The practice began last week, after a controversial (at least in the US) same-sex kiss on As the World Turns. When an avalanche of protests resulted, P&G’s response was to add a suggestion option to its toll-free consumer hotline, enabling ordinary folks to weigh in on where its advertising should and should not be placed.

P&G had already been taking considerable heat from angry blogsters and protest organizations for sponsoring profanity-heavy, misogynist hip-hop programming on MTV and BET.

‘We strive to be responsible advertisers,’ an unnamed spokeswoman told Advertising Age. ‘We want to sponsor programming that enables our brands to reach all of our consumers effectively. So we’re going to place our advertising in venues that reach our target audience, and that target is going to vary by product.’