Cell phone company T-Mobile has pulled its ads from two shows on Fox’s FX channel, after receiving a flood of complaint e-mails about the shows from the Rev. Donald Wildmon’s conservative group, American Family Association.
T-Mobile CEO Robert Dotson said in a letter to the organization that he would pull advertising from the shows “Rescue Me,” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” both of which feature racy storylines and other sexual content, according to Ad Age Magazine.
Dotson’s response came after receiving a flood of e-mails from association members who were critical of the shows’ adult content.
“I have personally taken the time to view some of the programs where we have run advertising,” Dotson wrote in his letter to the group.
“Candidly, some of the choices we have made are clearly inconsistent with who we are and what we stand for.”
In his letter to Wildmon, Dotson promised changes in the way the company handles its advertising.
“In addition to removing advertising from programs brought to our attention, effective immediately, we are pulling all advertising from the FX channel pending further review of their programming (and) I have directed my marketing and advertising leads to conduct a deeper review of our advertising standards to ensure that our selections are consistent with the qualities of T-Mobile’s brand.”
An FX spokesman told the magazine that the shows air at 10 p.m. and are marketed to adults only due to its adult content.
Dotson went on to say that his company would not support shows that “are sexually gratuitous, explicit, racist, hateful or excessively violent.”
Dotson’s action, which came without prior contact with the group, even surprised American Family Association officials themselves. Randy Sharp, the group’s director of special projects and education, said the letter marks a first for a company CEO to respond to such concerns and to respond by pulling the ads and reviewing his own company’s advertising policy.
