Sponsors of NBC and The Playboy Club

By: American Decency Staff

For weeks before last Monday’s premiere of the new NBC show, The Playboy Club, the network had pulled out all the stops to promote the show.  First there was a blitz of salacious TV promos leading up to the premiere – often aired during family viewing time.  Then they unleashed a slew of articles to entertainment news sources with interviews of Playboy Club actresses promoting the show as an example of “female empowerment.â€ÂÂ  Finally, as they tried to claim the show empowered women, they proceeded to objectify women by having one of the actresses from the show pose on the cover of the actual Playboy magazine. With all the money and hype poured into promoting The Playboy Club, the producers must have been reaching for large doses of antacid when the ratings came in.  Last week’s premiere episode of The Playboy Club garnered a measly rating of 1.6 in the coveted audience of adults aged 18-49.  These ratings are tremendously dismal.    One reviewer stated:  “Given the paltry premiere ratings of 1.6, The Playboy Club will almost certainly be canceled.â€Â This was only one of many reviewers to slam the show.  Reviewers from the New York Times to the LA Times – and a plethora of other entertainment writers in between – have given the show very poor reviews. Well, time will tell if poor ratings and poor reviews mark the eventual cancellation of this show.   But as long as NBC is selling advertisements, they have no reason to swallow their pride and cancel The Playboy Club. The response last week was overwhelming as many of you, our readers, used our “take actionâ€Â link to contact the advertisers of the premiere episode of The Playboy Club.  The very next day we had an advertiser contact us, pulling their ad while making reference to the large number of messages they had received. The good news is that many of the advertisers from last week’s episode did not sponsor last night’s show!  The only returning advertisers were:  All State Insurance, Capital One, Unilever (advertising different products this week), GE (General Electric), Bing (Microsoft), and obscure movie company Dark and Stormy Entertainment.  (Chrysler is listed as a returning advertiser this week; however their ad was a local buy in Michigan – not a national advertiser.) Most of these returning advertisers have a long history of advertising on trash TV, proving to have no standards in what their companies sponsor and turning a deaf ear to expressions of concern from potential customers. While we are encouraged that numbers of advertisers shied away from The Playboy Club, NBC has added a number of new advertisers – many of which are dependent upon families for their customer base.  They include: McDonalds, Burger King, and KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). We urge you to again take action!  Click on the link below to express your concern to the advertisers empowering The Playboy Club – a show that ridiculously claims to empower women while the show parades young women in bunny tails and skimpy, cleavage-baring costumes.  What this show does empower and promote is pornography. Stand with us in opposition by clicking here to send a message to the sponsors of The Playboy Club. https://americandecency.org/take_action_form.php?msg_id=119 ========================================================== Your support is important to our ability to make a difference. Donate online at: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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