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- BUSINESS, Page 49Business NotesADVERTISINGToo Bawdy At the Bundys'
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- Every Sunday evening some 11 million U.S. households watch
- the Fox network's raunchy hit, Married . . . With Children. But a
- letter-writing campaign by just one shocked viewer in suburban
- Detroit has prompted several national advertisers to yank their
- commercials from the blue-collar sitcom.
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- The crusade began in January, when Terry Rakolta, a mother
- of four, first tuned in to Married . . . With Children because
- the title seemed to promise wholesome family entertainment.
- Instead, Rakolta discovered the raucous and sometimes raw
- adventures of the Bundy family. Horrified by the sexual and
- scatological humor, Rakolta became an avid monitor of the
- program and began sending its advertisers hundreds of protest
- letters.
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- The one-woman crusade has had dramatic results.
- Kimberly-Clark, McDonald's and Tambrands have asked their ad
- agencies to pull their commercials from Married. Coca-Cola has
- promised to screen future episodes. Says Rakolta: "It restores
- my faith in the big American product companies."
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