Media Week: Toyota has yanked its advertising from FX’s Nip/Tuck after being pressured by a letter-writing campaign directed by the advocacy group Parents Television Council.
Since the show debuted two years ago, the PTC has sent letters to Nip/Tuck advertisers calling for them to pull their ads, including Toyota, GM, Ikea and the Vermont ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry’s. Other sponsors that have also decided to suspend advertising on Nip/Tuck include Gateway and Coors, both of which walked away from the show in 2003.
According to the PTC, Toyota was sent regular run downs of the show’s racier elements, along with a DVD featuring specific hot-button scenes. In its letters to sponsors, the advocacy group characterizes Nip/Tuck as being “one of the most sexually explicit, profane and violent television programs in the history of American television.”
John Solberg, senior vp of public relations for FX, said the activities of the PTC aren’t exactly going to keep the network’s executives up at night. Solberg pointed out that the first seven episodes of season three have averaged 2.8 million viewers in FX’s target 18-49, making it the top-rated show in the demo across all of basic cable.
Although FX is a cable network and is thereby not held to any decency standards by the Federal Communications Commission, the network specifically programs fare like Nip/Tuck at 10:00 p.m., a time slot that is generally considered kid-safe. FX has also voluntarily rated the show TV-MA.
