UPDATE:
Mere hours after Wrigley and H&R Block pulled their sponsorship from MTV’s new show Skins, Subway has followed suit. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sandwich shop franchise has become the fourth company to pull out and “will not be advertising on [Monday’s] episode.” But don’t worry, there are no reports yet denying your right to eat a Subway sandwich while watching the show, so as of now, go ahead and enjoy that Cold Cut Trio.
EARLIER:
Turns out, accusations of child pornography aren’t very good for business. Who knew? After the Parents Television Council got all pissed off at MTV’s new show Skins last week, calling it “possible child pornography and exploitation,” advertisers began to pull out, starting with Taco Bell and GM last week. Now, two more companies are continuing the trend — Wrigley and H&R Block.
And according to TMZ, a rep from H&R Block said that even before the child porn accusations, they were never supposed to be associated with Skins. “One ad ran by mistake as part of a rotation. Once we learned this, we immediately took steps to ensure it didn’t happen again.”
Wrigley, on the other hand, removed themselves because of the PTA’s accusations. “Wrigley has decided to suspend any advertising during MTV’s Skins as it is never our intent to endorse content that could offend our consumers,” wrote Wrigley’s senior manager of marketing communications Jennifer Jackson-Luth in an email to the LA Times. “Any ads that previously aired during the show were part of a broader advertising plan with the network.”
Tim Winter, President of the PTC, seemed excited that companies were responding to their complaints. “We’re beginning to wonder which companies actually wanted to sponsor Skins after hearing from both H&R Block and General Motors that neither intended to advertise on the program,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “We applaud Wrigley for making the responsible decision to separate its brand from a show that glorifies teen sex, teen drug use and teen alcohol abuse. Today, our members began contacting Subway asking them to defend sponsoring the baseless content on Skins that is being marketed directly to children.”
Skins returns for the second episode of its freshman season on MTV tonight at 10 p.m. EST, so be sure to be on the look-out tomorrow as the world explodes because children everywhere start doing drugs and having sex.
Source: TMZ, LA Times, EW, Hollywood Reporter
