the take

Spineless Advertisers Bail on ‘Kid Nation’

Can you hear us now, Verizon?Photo: iStockphoto (kid), Courtesy of CBS (logo)

According to the results of a survey conducted by Advertising Age (and reported on by Nikki Finke, who apparently reads Advertising Age), many of CBS’ top advertisers are pulling out of Kid Nation, the world’s greatest and only show about unsupervised children forced to survive alone in the desert. Inexplicably wary of having their brands identified with child abuse as entertainment, Procter & Gamble, Ford and GM, Verizon, Pepsi, and Anheuser-Busch have all said they won’t run commercials during Nation, despite continued plans to sponsor the rest of CBS’ vastly inferior prime-time lineup.

Ford and GM, no big loss — doesn’t everyone pretty much just buy Toyotas now anyway? And we expect this kind of thing from Anheuser-Busch, whose beer pales next to the pride of Milwaukee, Miller High Life. But Verizon, how could you? We’ve stood by you, even while all of our friends were becoming AT&T customers just to get an iPhone. That does it — after work today, we’re going directly to the Apple Store to pick up a JesusPhone and to stand up to these weak-willed corporations. To do anything less would be a clear affront to 11-year-old Kid Nation contestant Divad Miles who tragically — and hilariously! — burned her face on a stove while preparing a meal without parental supervision.

Advertisers Are Rejecting CBS ‘Kid Nation’ [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

Spineless Advertisers Bail on ‘Kid Nation’