Subway sandwich chain pulls advertising US version of Skins

Subway sandwich chain pulls advertising from US version of Skins

Hedonistic exploits of teenagers have not gone down well with US advertisers. Five companies have now pulled advertising

The sandwich chain Subway has become the latest company to distance itself from the US version of Skins, pulling its advertising from the show after a pressure campaign by a parenting group.

The US Skins, based on the British show, premiered on 17 January, but the fictional hedonistic exploits of its teenage cast have not gone down well with US advertisers. Five companies have now pulled their advertising from the programme.

A representative for Subway told The Hollywood Reporter the company would not be running its ads on the second episode of the show because "it is not fit for our brand".

The sandwich giant had been targeted by the Parent Television Council, which urged its 1.3m members to contact Subway via email and letters to the chain's thousands of outlets around the United States.

Fast food chain Taco Bell and chewing gum maker Wrigley had already decided to pull out of the show during the past few days, saying Skins was not a good fit for their brands. General Motors and tax preparation firm H&R Block have also disassociated themselves, saying that their adverts which ran during the first episode of Skins were run by mistake.

The Parents Television Council, which has described Skins as "the most dangerous program ever", last week called for the US government to open a child pornography investigation into the show. Several of the cast are under 18, and the PTC said the content of the show could violate US laws on the sexual exploitation of minors. US child pornography laws forbid the visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Skins attracted 3.3 million US viewers on its debut, the vast majority between ages 12 and 34, according to TV ratings figures.

MTV has declined to comment on specific advertisers. But the youth-oriented network said it has "an ongoing dialogue with our advertising partners about the best fit for them on our networks. We know that not every show works for every advertiser.

"That said, we are confident that Skins will continue to connect with the audience it was created for and that advertisers will take advantage of the opportunity to reach them."

News From: www.guardian.co.uk

Taco Bell Pulls Ads From MTV Skins

Risqué scenes on the hit MTV drama “Skins” have caused one company to remove its commercials from the program and have spurred a call by a TV watchdog group for a federal investigation.Taco Bell said Thursday that it had shifted its ads to other programs because “Skins” was “not a fit for our brand.” MTV did not respond to repeated requests for comment on Friday.

“Skins” gained attention earlier in the week when The New York Times reported that MTV executives had ordered edits to coming episodes of the show for fear of running afoul of child pornography statutes. Some of the actors in “Skins” are under the age of 18. In response, MTV said in a statement that the episodes of “Skins” will comply with all legal requirements.

After the Times report, the Parents Television Council, a TV watchdog group with conservative tendencies, called on Congress and the Justice Department to “open an investigation regarding child pornography and exploitation.”

The group asserted in a letter on Thursday that the program may be in violation of federal statutes pertaining to portrayals of child sexual abuse and sexual behavior.

“Since it is not necessary for Viacom or MTV to distribute the material in order to be in violation of the law, we call upon your committees to immediately investigate Viacom and MTV for the production of this material. Furthermore, we urge you in the strongest possible terms to compel the Attorney General to mount an investigation by the Department of Justice into whether the production of ‘Skins’ has violated federal law meant to protect minors from exploitation,” the group wrote to the chairs of the Congressional judiciary committees.

The group also criticized Taco Bell for advertising on the first episode of “Skins,” which was shown on Monday night.

A Taco Bell spokesman said Thursday evening, “We advertise on a variety of MTV programs that reach our core demographic of 18 to 34 year olds, which included the premiere episode of Skins. Upon further review, we’ve decided that the show is not a fit for our brand and have moved our advertising to other MTV programming.”

The one-two punch — the group’s letter and Taco Bell’s decision — drew attention from television networks. The Fox News commentators Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity both blasted MTV on Thursday night, and the morning shows on NBC, ABC and CBS all broadcast reports about the so-called “Skins” scandal on Friday morning.

News From: mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com