PTC Singles Out Best and Worst TV Advertisers
Calls on Holiday Shoppers to Support Responsible Companies

LOS ANGELES (November 24, 2008) – The Parents Television Council™ released its annual ranking of the “Top Ten Best and Worst Advertisers.” The report ranked television advertisers from best to worst according to content in the prime time broadcast television programs they chose to underwrite. Advertisers that landed on the best list primarily sponsored family-friendly television shows, while those on the worst list often supported programs containing graphic sexual content, excessive violence or profanity.
 

“The role that television advertisers play in determining what type of content comes into every home in America cannot be overstated. We commend the advertisers on our best list that have chosen to associate their hard-earned corporate brands with positive programming that the entire family can watch together. Coca-Cola soared to the top of our best list after ranking ninth last year and Hewlett-Packard also began carefully evaluating the programming it underwrites to secure a place on our best list for the first time,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

“By contrast, parents can thank many of the advertisers on the worst list for enabling the networks to pump some of the most shocking and outrageous content on the air today directly into their living rooms. Our top offenders include General Motors, which advertised on one of the most shocking episodes of Fox’s ‘Family Guy,’ and Nissan, which helped pay for the bloodiest episode in the ‘Dexter’ series to air on broadcast television. In the 2007-2008 TV season alone, these two advertisers showed up nearly 1,000 times on ‘red light’ shows that are unsuitable for children according to PTC’s traffic light ratings system.

“During the holiday season, we call on our members and all concerned citizens to carefully consider which companies they will support with their shopping dollars. While Kohl’s and Target landed on our worst list, Wal-Mart barely missed the cut off for our best list and is to be lauded for its commitment to families. It is up to consumers to show companies that supporting family-friendly programming makes good businesses sense. The PTC will continue to encourage corporate responsibility for advertising buys and ask consumers to do the same by reinforcing that message with their wallets,” Winter concluded.

Top Ten Best and Worst Advertisers

The PTC’s list of the “Top Ten Best and Worst Advertisers” is based on each company’s prime time network television ad buys during the 2007-2008 television season. Each company listed purchased at least 25 ads on prime time broadcast programs. Companies with the most ads on green light shows, based on PTC’s trademarked traffic-light ratings system, were ranked the best, while companies with the most ads on red light shows were ranked the worst. PTC “campaign shows,” which consistently feature problematic sexual, violent or profane content, were given special weight. To see each prime time show’s rating, please visit http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/familyguide/main.asp.

BEST

1. Coca-Cola

2. The Clorox Company

3. Century 21 Real Estate LLC

4. H&R Block, Inc.

5. Ferrero S.p.A. (U.S.A.)

6. CVS Caremark Corporation

7. Whirlpool Corporation

8. The Hershey Company

9. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

10. Hewlett-Packard Company

WORST

1. General Motors Corporation

2. Nissan North America, Inc.

3. L’Oreal USA, Inc.

4. Pepsi-Cola North America

5. GlaxoSmithKline Holdings (Americas) Inc.
[Brands include: Beano, Lowerthepain.com, Os-Cal, Nicoderm, Sensodyne,
Valtrex, Advair, Aquafresh, and Myalli.com]

6. Reckitt Benckiser, Inc.
[Brand: Delsym]

7. Target Corporation

8. Kohl’s Corporation

9. Verizon Communications, Inc.

10. Toyota Motor North America.

To compare this ranking to 2007, visit: http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/news/release/2007/0808.asp.