One-third of sponsors pull ads from raunchy CBS show

  The Parents Television Council (PTC) cheered 31 companies that have removed their ads from CBS’s Two and a Half Men in 2009.
  The PTC contacted each advertiser to warn them about the content of the show, which barrages viewers with sexual scenes and jokes, often in scenes including dialogue with a child actor. Out of 94 sponsors for the show from January to September 2009, PTC research found that 31 sponsors stopped advertising on the original series and on reruns.
  “We applaud these companies for exercising responsibility for their sponsorships,” said PTC President Tim Winter. “Several of the companies that pulled their ads let us know that they shared PTC’s concerns and that the content of the show does not match up with their corporate image.”
  For instance, in July, a Lowe’s representative wrote in a letter to PTC: “Lowe’s has strict guidelines that govern the placement of our advertising. Since we don’t have enough lead time on a local basis to view the shows, we have removed Two and a Half Men from all of our local TV buys moving forward.”
  “As the new fall season begins, we hope that more sponsors will add their names to this growing list of corporations which have chosen not to underwrite graphic content on Two and a Half Men,” said Winter.
  www.parentstv.org, 9/24/09

Advertisers that dropped from ‘Two and a Half Men’ in 2009
T-Mobile
Honda
Saturn
Abbott Laboratories (Humira)
Bayer HealthCare LLC (One a Day Women’s)
Bristol Myers-Squibb Company
L’Oreal USA (Maybelline)
Pfizer (Lipitor)
Schering-Plough HealthCare Products, Inc.
Tate & Lyle (Splenda)
Tylenol
CSC Brands LP
Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster)
Frito-Lay North America Inc.
General Mills
Kraft Foods
OSI Restaurant Partners LLC
Papa John’s International Inc.
Sunsweet Growers Inc.
Best Buy
Lowe’s
Macy’s
Sears
Staples Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Aflac
AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
Capital One
Chase Bank
Liberty Mutual
Royal Caribbean International