Sponsoring shows advancing anti-Christian bigotry, group sex, adultery and a rabid use of profanity aired during family viewing hours has earned Johnson &
Johnson a stern warning of consumer reprisal by AFA. Today, the American Family Association criticized the health care products company for giving financial endorsements to licentious behavior on prime-time
television. Reported in the February 2000 AFA Journal, Johnson & Johnson helped bring the "worst" in TV dramas, including Ally McBeal, "the most repugnant series on prime-time when it comes to treatment of
moral values."
AFA President Don Wildmon said that the company's ostensibly wholesome advertising policy and its actual advertising practices don't match up and a boycott could be looming. "As long as Johnson & Johnson continues its
present practice of promoting violence, sex and profanity, it doesn't warrant the business of American families concerned about television's deleterious impact," said Wildmon.
Wildmon said Johnson & Johnson sponsored one episode of West Wing which was particularly offensive to parents as it focused on the murder of a homosexual at the hands of two 13-year-old Catholic boys. In NBC's West Wing,
the boys had allegedly stripped the victim naked, tied him to a tree, and forced him to say Hail Marys as they pelted him with rocks and bottles to the head.
When questioned about West Wing and other controversial program themes, Johnson & Johnson spokesman John McKeegan said, "We screen every show we're on. [They] met with our internal standards. We decided that we would advertise on those shows." McKeegan added, "We'll still be supporting adult oriented shows as well."
Wildmon noted Johnson & Johnson's financial support of such programs counteracts its recent boast of funding the development of family-friendly shows on the WB network. "Their policy has a double standard, which
basically amounts to no standard at all," added Wildmon.
AFA is encouraging families to contact Johnson & Johnson and ask them to stop supporting programs that contain excessive sex, violence and profanity.
Contact:
Johnson & Johnson
Chairman Ralph S. Larsen
1 Johnson & Johnson Plaza
New Brunswick, NJ 08933
Phone: 1-800-526-3967 (option 7)
Email:
