Advertisers abandoning VH1's 'Dating Naked' following conservative campaign
LOS ANGELES (Christian Examiner) – Conservative groups have received plenty of criticism over the years for their various boycotts, but thanks to a new series of successes, they may have found a way to avoid a boycott altogether.
Sprint, Samsung and Panera Bread are among the advertisers that have agreed to stop sponsoring VH1's controversial program Dating Naked following a campaign from groups such as the Parents Television Council and One Million Moms, both of which have repeatedly urged their supporters to contact companies and ask them to pull commercials from the program.
The VH1 show, rated TV-14, shows young adults dating in the buff. VH1 pixelates the private areas, although that does little to make it more acceptable.
"Most parents would be shocked to find their young teenagers watching this sexually-explicit nude dating show," said PTC President Tim Winter. "But VH1, in all its wisdom, believes this kind of content is appropriate for middle school and high school aged children."
In one email alert to supporters, Winter wrote, "Surely, parents will take pause at these companies for sponsoring 'Dating Naked,' and at VH1 for marketing this nude reality show to their children."
Sometimes, VH1 runs ads on the show without notifying companies. The latest company to drop its ads from it is Fruit of the Loom.
The campaign's success drew the attention of Advertising Age, which covers the ad industry and posted a story.
Fruit of the Loom released a statement which, according to One Million Moms, read, "Thank you for reaching out and sharing your concern. Fruit of the Loom has a family friendly advertising policy that does not permit airing on mature or explicit programming. We are following up with the network to ensure brand advertising does not run during this specific program in the future."
Monica Cole of One Million Moms said Fruit of the Loom responded to the campaign within "a couple hours" of it being launched.
"VH1 should be ashamed to air nudity and then call it entertainment," Cole wrote. "... This horrendous show, packed full of extremely graphic content, has been extensively marketed to teens."