MediaBuyerPlanner: General Motors may be the largest Survivor advertiser to drop its sponsorship of the hit reality show, but it’s not the only one to do so.
Among several other advertisers who have said they will not return for the upcoming season of Survivor, which has drawn controversy for dividing tribes along racial lines, are Coca-Cola, Home Depot, United Parcel Service and Campbell Soup, the New York Times writes.
GM announced yesterday that it would not advertise on this season’s Survivor, saying that, in spite of the fact that the company announced an expansion of its advertising sponsorship for the show as late as May 12, the decision was made months ago to stop advertising, and was unrelated to the show’s new format. A spokeswoman for Campbell Soup also said the decision was made before the company knew about the content of the season.
In 2006, General Motors accounted for $14.7 million, or 18 percent of the $80.7 million spent by the 50 top advertisers of the show, according to figures from TNS Media Intelligence. CBS has said that the show has attracted plenty of other advertisers. It wouldn’t name them, despite the fact that in early seasons of the show, CBS issued news releases with the names of sponsoring companies.
The two most recent seasons of the show, Survivor: Guatemala and Survivor: Panama, were ranked fifth and seventh respectively in terms of total viewers for the season.
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