NBC's new series The Playboy Club is losing advertising support, and quickly. In the week-and-a-half since the show premiered, seven different advertisers including Kraft, Sprint, Campbell's Soup and P.F. Chang's China Bistro. The speculation is that the show's slow start in the ratings could potentially lead to a cancellation if things don't improve. With disappointing ratings and little advertising support, it would seem like a long shot for this show to be around much longer.
Is it only the poor ratings that have caused these advertisers to leave the show behind? Well, most likely. Yet some believe that the show's content may be partially responsible as well. The Parents Television Council has reportedly berated the show on account of "mainstreaming the pornography industry." The PTC is pleased with the desertion of the show by many advertisers, yet is still hoping for more. They've since been in contact with Capital One, Chrysler and Samsung about doing the same.
My belief is that if any remaining advertisers decide to leave the program, it will have nothing to do with the Parents Television Council. Nor do I believe that the PTC had anything to do with the original seven advertisers' decision. It is not as if the advertisers had no clue what kind of subject matter would be dealt with in a show called The Playboy Club. If advertisers desert the program it is entirely due to its disappointing performance in the ratings game. I do not think that the show looks appealing, but I find it a bit discomforting that the only way a network judges a show's value is by how many people watch it.
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I think the loss of advertisers is because of both reasons. Because the show's doing poorly (no one's watching to see the ads) and no one wants their brand to be associated with the negative feedback that now surrounds the show.
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