Few bamboozled by the darkness of “Hannibal”

By: American Decency Staff

Last Thursday most networks were airing reruns, but NBC aired a new episode of the gruesome show, “Hannibal.”  Each week “Hannibal” has come in dead last in the ratings war among the networks, with the show’s ratings falling nearly every week.

I’m sure NBC was hopeful that up against a night of reruns on other networks, viewers might tune in to watch the repulsive “Hannibal.”  However, it seems viewers would much rather watch a tired rerun than tune in for the sickening violence and cannibalistic imagery of “Hannibal” – as was proven with the ratings for the latest episode.  Hannibal drew a measly 1.0 share of the coveted 18-49 year old demographic, down 9 percent from the previous week and tying a series low. 

As one person commented online about the low ratings of Hannibal: 

People are realizing that what they are watching isn’t necessarily suitable entertainment–how can it be good for people to be entertained by watching a serial killer in action?  …  with Hannibal it’s almost immoral to enjoy watching the show.

And while “Hannibal” has been the darling of TV critics, a few are not following the party line.  The liberal news site Salon.com had this to say:

 “… ‘Hannibal’  is the latest television program from a group of very talented people who have bamboozled themselves, and now would like to bamboozle you, into thinking that “darkness” — death and murder and mental illness and every sort of freaky grab bag of human sin — is indistinguishable from “seriousness.” As if being able to shock and upset people concerned with TV violence and/or titillate and astound people who thrill to TV violence makes the material edgy or wise, when, given the amount of ultra-violence one can find on a television these days, it’s really just boring.  …”

Thankfully, relatively few Americans have been “bamboozled” by the darkness of Hannibal.  However, just one person being impacted by its depravity is one too many.  Yet numbers of advertisers have no qualms about empowering such depravity. 

The good news is that Subway, which had sponsored nearly every previous episode, did not advertise on the latest episode of “Hannibal.” 

However, Kohl’s – whose customer base is made up of American families – once again sponsored “Hannibal.”   Microsoft, also a regular sponsor,  had five ads during this episode.

Take Action!  Click here to send a message to the corporations sponsoring “Hannibal.”

Advertisers include:

Kohl’s
Macy’s
Microsoft – Windows and Bing.com (advertising 5 times)
Lipton
Best Buy
Chevrolet
Toyota
Honda
Mazda
Hyundai
Verizon Wireless
LensCrafters
Sealy Posturepedic
Warner Brothers
Paramount Pictures
Universal Pictures

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