Parent Advocacy Group Decries MTV’s New ‘Sex-Soaked’ Show
Published at
Simon Russell/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — The parent advocacy group that raised cain over singer M.I.A flipping the bird during the Super Bowl halftime show and David Beckham stripping to his underwear in an H&M Super Bowl ad shifted its parental scorn from football to foreplay Tuesday.
The Parents Television Council’s latest target of outrage is MTV’s newest steamy teen comedy I Just Want My Pants Back. The group called on such corporate sponsors as Dr. Pepper, Toyota and T-Mobile, which all bankrolled the show’s first three episodes, to pull their support of what they deemed “sex soaked, child-targeting entertainment.”
“All of MTV’s advertisers, including Dr. Pepper, T-Mobile and Toyota, will be asked if foursomes and a woman who tells her sexual partner to ‘stick a finger in my a**’ are an accurate reflection of their hard-earned corporate brands,” the council’s president, Tim Winter, said in a statement.
The group claims MTV’s “stated intention” was to target children “as young as 12 years old,” a charge they base off comments MTV’s head of programming David Janollari made to The Wrap that the show’s demographic is 12-to-34-year-olds.
“We are confident you recognize the dangers of associating your brand with group sex — particularly when promoted to children,” Winter said in the letter to the show’s sponsors, which also included Burger King, Ashley Furniture and others.
The show, which launched earlier this month, is about a group of young 20-somethings looking for love and success after a one-night stand. Its premier episode attracted about 1.8 million viewers, more than The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, according to Nielson TV ratings.
This is not the first MTV show the Parents Television Council has targeted. Last year the group called on Department of Justice to open a child pornography investigation against MTV for its controversial show Skins, which depicted teen sex and drug use, and employed actors that were under 18. The youngest actor in “Pants” is 25.
Skins was canceled after the first season.
MTV declined to comment on the Parents Television Council’s letter.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio