Pro-Family MTV Boycott Gaining Steam
by Allie Martin and Ed Vitagliano
February 13, 2004
(AgapePress) - As government officials continue to blast MTV for its Super Bowl halftime show, the founder of a national pro-family ministry says support is growing for a boycott of advertisers on the sexually-explicit, teen-oriented cable TV network.Don Wildmon, founder and chairman of the Mississippi-based American Family Association, has long battled Hollywood and the television entertainment media on behalf of the nation's children and families. In one of its most recent projects, AFA has launched an Internet campaign to boycott sponsors currently supporting MTV -- and the campaign is gaining momentum, he says. In fact, nearly 100,000 people have logged on to BoycottMTV.net since it was launched late last week.
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Dr. Don Wildmon |
"You can go there and tell us that, if and when the time comes, you will join a boycott of one or more of these companies that financially support MTV," Wildmon explains.The pro-family spokesman says companies that support MTV with advertising have been contacted. "We are currently contacting these advertisers, asking them to get off of MTV, not to put anymore money into programming on MTV -- and saying 'Hey, if you don't, then we'll buy somebody else's products because you are supporting a television channel that's scraping the bottom of the sewer pit,'" he says bluntly.
MTV recently reported that eight of the network's most offensive videos would now be played only on overnight programming.
AFA Activists Have Impact on Reckless Companies
With an increasing number of corporations who, through their advertising strategies, appear only too willing to risk offending customers, AFA continues giving those customers a way to respond.
For example, two years ago AFA called for its supporters to boycott clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) because of its controversial quarterly catalog, with its nudity-filled pages and sexually immoral lifestyle pitched directly to the nation's youth.
Members of OneMillionMoms.com (OMM) and OneMillionDads.com (OMD) also hammered A&F with thousands of E-mail complaints every time the company released a new pornographic catalog.
No doubt as a result of the growing boycott of A&F's 651 stores -- by a multitude of people associated with different pro-family groups -- the company's in-store sales plummeted 13% in November, and its stock dropped 16% in value, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In December, A&F announced that it would no longer produce the controversial quarterly. While the company claimed that it was simply time for "new thinking," it seems clear that the boycott helped clarify the company's "thinking."
Where A&F offended customers by removing clothing, JCPenney offended with some of the clothing products themselves. The company drew criticism from OMM and OMD because of a line of T-shirts -- aimed at teenagers -- with sexual messages.
"Had a great time last night, whoever he was," "McLay's Plumbing Service: Winki says, 'No pipe too big or too small. We clean your pipes 24/7,'" and "Mindy's Messenger Service: No one handles your package better," were among some of the messages printed on the shirts.
AFA director of special projects Randy Sharp said that thousands of e-mails from OMM and OMD members got the attention of JCPenney officials. The shirts were immediately pulled from stores, and the company promised Sharp that the shelves would not be restocked with the offensive products.
Randy Sharp | |
Dodge Flushes 'Lingerie Bowl'
Also in December, car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler, the parent company of Dodge, pulled its support from a special Dodge-sponsored pay-per-view event called the Lingerie Bowl, which was set to run during halftime of the next Super Bowl.The event was scheduled to include a lingerie show as well as a "football game" between scantily-clad female models. On the website promoting the Lingerie Bowl, a model in bra and panties was shown "tackling" a similarly-clad opponent -- by virtue of the one pulling down the other's panties.
The company said it was attempting to reach the young men in the viewing audience who are most prone to purchasing Dodge pickups, but the strategy apparently didn't sit well with other Dodge consumers. OMM and OMD members contacted DaimlerChrysler through e-mails and phone calls, in addition to expressing their displeasure to local Dodge dealers.
The campaign was an unmitigated success. Dodge dealers across the nation expressed their negative opinion of the show with the home office in Auburn Hills, Michigan. One dealer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Sharp, "Our customers contacted us and we agree with them. Dodge shouldn't be aligning with pornographic events."
Subsequently, Dodge spokesman George Murphy said, "Dodge brands sponsorship of the Lingerie Bowl has become a distraction. The event was diverting media and consumer attention from current products and from the great new products we are preparing to launch next year."
Another company spokesman, James Kenyon, told the Detroit Free Press that the decision was made because of complaints from female customers and employees, as well as from Dodge dealers.
Sharp said the company miscalculated with its strategy. "I'm sure there are some young men who would be titillated by the Lingerie Bowl and might buy a Dodge truck because of it. But the company obviously forgot that there are a lot of decent men out there and 'soccer moms' who would be offended," he said. "In the end, Dodge put two and two together and pulled out of the program."
