There has been talk of boycotting advertisers of ABC's debate of April 16, 2008. Always a thorny subject, because without the advertiser explaining how their ad landed in a given time slot, because of the way the debates are scheduled, they may or may not have known their ad would be seeing 11 Million bodies who may not even be their potential customers. But in any case, the ads were there. We saw them. And they've become part of the outpouring of anger or adulation.
Avoiding Disney is harder for those with children than for those without. "Desperate Housewives," as an example of ABC Television, has not recovered from the writer's strike. ABC would be tempted to claim that issue for a few more weeks of ratings declines. "Grey's Anatomy" would be another issue.
So what did we see?
Please note that some of these were block purchases. That is, a company buys all Thursday night showings of say, "Lost" or "Gray's Anatomy," and there's often a rebate if the ad does not air, or the ratings fall below a certain number. Also, some companies retain the option of yanking their ads if they know there is controversial material in the given program. None of these companies yanked their ads, and a few clearly intended to be shown during the debate.
Sometimes, there is a rebate if the show shown in the time-slot is not the one the advertiser intended the ad to be seen in. Fox's Nascar / MLB rain delay earlier this week, for example. Game delayed several hours. When play resumed, viewers were watching car enthusiast / Nascar-related ads during a baseball game. The point of bringing that up is some of these commercials seem geared to a certain program which might have aired. The debate was tentative, so the ad department likely sold the time just in case. Should you wish to avoid a given product or company, just be advised they may not have had a clue they were going to be on this list.
These are the advertisements shown during the April 16, 2008 Democratic Debate from Philadelphia. New York City Metro Area. {Local Promo means your local station could sell ad time and will be very different from National ad time buys.)
The First Break.
Verizon Wireless - V-Cast Mobile Service
Scotts / Miracle Gro - Turf Builder
2
Verizon Wireless - Broadband Access
Hynudai - Dollars & Sense Sale
Pet Smart
Promise Activ 'Super Shots'
Lunesta
Kashi
Divided We Fail.Org
ABC Promo for GMA, TW
Local time
Local time
3
Divided We Fail . Org
Dulcolax Stool Softener
Midol
Pledge
Benadryl - Children's Perfect Measure
Nice&Easy Hair Color
Dannon Activia
Neutrogena Age Reverse
ABC Promo for WNT - Stop Complaining Bracelet
ABC Promo - Dancing With The Stars
Local Promo - Mohegan Sun
Local Promo
4
Geico
Pepcid Easy Chews
Remax
Staples
Dannon Activ
Gold Bond Ultimate
Ambien CR
ABC Promo - Grays Anatomy
Local Promo - Optimum Online
Local Promo
5
Verizon Wireless - V-Cast/Vote 08 Promo
6
Verizon Wireless
Kellogg's All-Bran
Cortizone 10
Prilosec OTC
Honda Odyssey
National Alliance Against Tobacco
Promise Active "Super Shots"
Pet Smart
7 (the groan break)
ABC Promo - Desperate Housewives
ABC Promo - Nightline
ABC Promo - Oprah's Big Give
Local Promo
Dunkin Donuts
Digital TV
Hyundai - Dollars & Sense
Local Promo
Then on we went to Anne Heche's "Men In Trees."