John Paul Mitchell Systems, maker of Paul Mitchell hair care products, has announced that they are no longer a sponsor of “Nothing Sacred.”
John Paul Mitchell Systems becomes the 28th company to drop the show. The others are: Isuzu, Weight Watchers, K-Mart, Benckiser, DuPont, Red Lobster, Ocean Spray, Sears, Glaxo Wellcome, Ponderosa, Dunkin’ Donuts, Scott’s Liquid Gold, Chrysler-Plymouth, Honda, Ann and Hammer, Home Depot, Borden, Alberto Culver, Montgomery Ward, Ovaltine, Dairy Queen, Mutual of Omaha, Telecom*USA, Cigna, McCormick, Pier 1 and NordicTrack.
“We certainly had no intention of insulting or offending Roman Catholics by running our commercial on the program,” said a spokeswoman for John Paul Mitchell Systems. While insisting that her announcement “does not constitute a withdrawal of support for the show in response to your boycott,” she asked the Catholic League “to be sure that you take our name off your list of Nothing Sacred sponsors.”
William Donohue commented today on # 28:
“While John Paul Mitchell Systems does not want to be viewed as responding to our boycott, their desire to no longer be listed as a sponsor of ‘Nothing Sacred’ speaks for itself. The strong public objections to this show are being felt in the marketplace, and advertisers are responding-whether out of concern for the religious sensibilities of Catholic people, or out of economic necessity.
“Whatever the reason, the bottom line remains the same: Disney/ABC are having as tough a time finding sponsors for ‘Nothing Sacred’ as they have had trying to find an audience for this abysmally-rated show. We are clearly being heard, and we will continue to give voice to the more than one million people who have signed our petition to Disney chief Michael Eisner protesting ‘Nothing Sacred’s’ agenda.”
