Levitz Furniture Corporation has instructed its ad agency “to immediately pull our commercials from the series [“Nothing Sacred”]. A spokeswoman for the company wrote to Catholic League president William Donohue saying, “I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to you and your members….”
Levitz is the 36th company to withdraw sponsorship of the show. Those who previously quit 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, Arm & Hammer, Home Depot, Borden, Alberto Culver, Montgomery Ward, Ovaltine, Dairy Queen, Mutual of Omaha, Telecom*USA, Cigna, McCormick, Pier 1, NordicTrack, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Meineke, Fantom Technologies Direct, A&M Products, Nissan, RadioShack, Chattem and International Home Foods.
William Donohue commented on the latest company to drop:
“Congratulations to Levitz for making an honest and morally responsible decision. I hope Catholics continue to patronize the famous furniture store.
“When future textbooks on business ethics are written, the incredibly positive response from the corporate community over ‘Nothing Sacred’ should receive prominent treatment. Similarly, when Catholic observers discuss Catholic lay activism, they should give due credit to this new burst of energy emanating from Catholic circles.
“What this signifies is that the day has come when those who walk on Catholic sensibilities cannot depend on the private sector to fund their agenda. Nor can they depend upon Catholic passivity. I hope that this much needed wake-up call finally gets through to Disney/ABC.”
