Straight Shooting - Special Edition - 6/16/00
By Fritz Capp on June 16, 2000
Straight Shooting - Issue #70 - Special Edition
by Fritz Capp
Exclusively For "The Fans Of Pro Wrestling"
June, 16, 2000
When it first happened you took it seriously. I mean it was a threat against pro wrestling itself. Here was this little extremeist group who called themselves the Parents Television Council going after the World Wrestling Federation's Thursday night broadcast, Smackdown. The Internet rallied under the banner of "Wrestling Fans Against Censorship" (WFAC) that was a grassroots movement started on my site,> We had hundreds of websites sign on to combat the PTC and we did do a pretty good job even though there was no acknowledgement from the WWF. Who cares right? We were doing what we felt was right. Sure the PTC had a few sponsors pull off the programming but so what? There was many more to replace them happily. There was to be no more problems with that upstart PTC correct?
When they started their shenanigans again we went right to their sponsors. So many of them responded with the "I don't know what your talking about" schtick but the PTC quieted down in a hurry and we were once again sedated and lulled into the ever so popular false sense of security. I hate to tell you all this but we were wrong.
I noticed that support against the PTC was waning and apathy was setting in with the Internet wrestling fans. People started to write me telling me that they were no threat and that they were tired of hearing about them. They wanted to hear about the latest match between the Rock and Triple H. and not some stupid group that didn't have anything better to do than to write letters and start campaigns against the WWF.
Well people, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the PTC has been mounting an ever so quiet but yet very effective campaign against the WWF. You see where you all stopped being concerned they picked up the fight. They saw that the letters in their mailbox from wrestling fans dwindled to almost nothing. They knew it was a good time to strike, only this time quietly. They knew what had happened before. We forced them to change their e-mail address because the wrestling fans united in such force that we crashed their e-mail. Their phones rang off the hook. And they were rude, very rude to anyone who said they were a wrestling fan.
I cannot force you to keep vigilant against groups like the PTC, I can only point out that no one is invincible in this world and consistent and marked attacks against anyone can and will have an effect. Let me show you what the PTC has been doing while everyone has thought they were finished :
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From : http://www.parentstv.org/AdvertisingInfo/WWFSmackdown1.html
The PTC Takes Action Against
TV's Biggest Villain
The World Wrestling Federation's WWF Smackdown!
During the summer of 1999, the PTC launched a major campaign against the World Wrestling Federation's show WWF Smackdown!
The PTC exposed how Smackdown! is easily the most ultra-violent, foul-mouthed, and sexually explicit show on prime time television, a fact made even worse when one considers it is broadcast during the "family hour."
Even before the show aired, the PTC contacted dozens of advertisers and urged them not to sponsor it. When it did air, the PTC kept careful track of its sponsors and contacted them again with PTC research and video footage of the filth their advertiser dollars were putting on television. The PTC also enlisted the support of its massive grassroots member network and encouraged them to contact the advertisers as well. Several corporations responded by pulling their advertisements from WWF Smackdown! and others pledged to never advertise on the program.
Following the rapid defection by these and other advertisers, the WWF was forced to publicly pledge to clean up its act. Even though some WWF supporters bombarded the PTC with hate mail -- and death threats -- the PTC remains fully committed to holding Smackdown!, as well as other offensive programs, and their corporate sponsors responsible.
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PTC Scores Victory For American Families:
MCI WorldCom To Pull Advertising From WWF Smackdown!
Company Joins Over 30 Corporate GianWho Have Taken A Stand Against Trash TV
June 15, 2000
From : http://www.parentstv.org/publications/release/pr20000615.html
Hollywood, Calif-Parents Television Council Honorary National Chairman Steve Allen today congratulated MCI WorldCom on its decision to pull its ad dollars from WWF Smackdown!, one of the most offensive shows on prime time television. The decision by Mr. Bernard Ebbers, President and CEO of MCI WorldCom, comes two weeks after Mr. Allen and Dr. C. DeLores Tucker, civil rights activist and PTC advisory board member, traveled to MCI WorldCom's Mississippi headquarters to address the company's board of directors and shareholders.
"Thank you for bringing to our attention your concerns regarding MCI WorldCom's advertising on the television program WWF Smackdown!. We appreciate the information you have provided regarding this matter, and we want you to know that we share your concerns and agree whole-heartedly that advertising on WWF Smackdown! is not appropriate," wrote Bernard Ebbers, President and CEO of MCI WorldCom, in a letter to the PTC. "This is not the kind of programming MCI WorldCom wants to be associated with, and MCI WorldCom has suspended all advertising on this program."
"I am pleased that MCI WorldCom has responded favorably to our request-joining the ranks of over thirty corporate giants who refuse to sponsor this violent and vulgar program marketed weekly to over three million children," said PTC Honorary National Chairman Steve Allen. "It is the responsible actions of corporations such as MCI WorldCom that will put pressure on those companies that continue to sponsor WWF Smackdown! to pull their ad dollars as well."
"I am pleased that MCI WorldCom has joined the ranks of other corporate giants who refuse to sponsor programming that not only glamorizes violence to small children, but also treats them to heavy doses of violence, racial stereotyping, foul language, graphic sexual innuendo and sexist comments. This decision by MCI WorldCom defines the essence of corporate responsibility," said PTC Advisory Board Member Dr. C. DeLores Tucker.
MCI WorldCom is the most recent corporation to pull its advertising dollars from WWF Smackdown!. To date, more than thirty corporations contacted by PTC have pledged to withhold advertising dollars from the show, including corporate giants like Wendy's, Ford, General Motors, Coca-Cola, AT&T, M&M Mars, Clorox, State Farm, Office Depot, Walgreens, Saks Inc., Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Allstate Insurance, Gap, Procter & Gamble, Hershey's, McDonald's, SBC Enterprises, Maytag, Colgate-Palmolive, Kellogg's, Pfizer, Domino's, Federated Department Stores, Best Foods, Wrigley's, Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson. Once the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard learned of the content on Smackdown!, they too pulled their sponsorship, stating that the show did not reflect their core values.
For more information on the PTC, or to schedule an interview with either Brent Bozell, Chairman of the PTC, or another spokesperson from the PTC, please contact Pamela Groover or Anne Golden at (703) 683-5004.
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Now maybe you people don't "get it" or maybe you do not understand the implications behind what is happeneing or maybe you really don't care that a political group motivated by money and publicity disguising themselves someone who genuinely cares about family television is slowly but surely chipping away at pro wrestling's right to broadcast their television show. Maybe your all saying to yourselves, "but there's nothing I can do because I am only one person". No matter what you are telling yourself, unless you really don't care then you should be doing everything you possibly can to combat these people. THEY ARE TRYING TO TAKE YOUR RIGHTS AWAY FROM YOU IN UNDER THE PRETENCE OF MORALITY! WHO ARE THEY TO PASS JUDGEMENT ON YOU AND WHAT YOU WANT TO VIEW?
This world is out of control with people feeling the need to butt into everyone elses business and I'll be damned if I am going to let some idiot sitting behind a $2000.00 desk in an office that is paid for by people gullible enough to send him money to "further the cause" dictate what I can and cannot watch on television just because parents today do not care to parent their own children! This is INSANITY!
Want more? Let me give you a little more from these people:
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From : http://63.66.59.9:8099/AdvertisingInfo/WWF-AllenStatement.html
Steve Allen's MCI Shareholder's Address
My name is Steve Allen and I am the honorary national chairman of the Parents Television Council. Dr. Tucker has told you of the horrendous programming sponsored by MCI. I want to discuss with you briefly MCI's involvement with the Parents Television Council and what others, including wrestling insiders, have to say about the WWF.
As Dr. Tucker mentioned, MCI has not responded to repeated correspondence from the PTC regarding WWF Smackdown!. This lack of response on the part of MCI prompted PTC representatives to call MCI advertising executives on several occasions.
In the first of these phone calls, Ginger Fitzgerald of MCI advertising stated MCI was fully aware of the content of the program and that it was in their opinion perfectly acceptable. Content, may I remind you, that included profanity, sexist remarks, sexually graphic material, and the promotion of drug use!
The PTC again called MCI on May 10. This time, MCI was singing a different tune - denying responsibility for any of their advertising that appears on offensive programming.
Claire Hasset of MCI's public relations department, claimed, " We don't advertise on particular shows or endorse particular shows, we purchase advertising on a network and our goal is to reach a certain target audience. I apologize on behalf of the company if that offends you. That's definitely not our intention. We place advertising on a variety of programs and I hope you also see some of the ads that we place on some of the really great shows out there."
I'm grateful to Ms. Hassett for implying a distinction between Smackdown and "really great shows."
One could conclude from these responses that MCI does not believe that television influences behaviors, attitudes, or perceptions. According to Advertising Age, however, MCI spent nearly $219 million in 1998 on network TV advertising alone! Obviously, someone at MCI believes in television's power to influence perceptions, attitudes, and individual behaviors - especially when attempting to persuade consumers to purchase MCI products and services.
On the one hand, MCI wants to persuade individuals, by means of advertising, to purchase MCI products and services. On the other hand, MCI seeks to deny responsibility for the frankly disgusting programming it pays for which has negative and detrimental effects on our children. The contradiction is apparent and without defense.
We are not alone in our disgust with WWF Smackdown! Recently, sportscaster Bob Costas said, "There was a time when I was a wrestling fan in small doses…I thought it was funny…They were bold slapstick characters. There was a tongue in cheek and a twinkle in the eye. What it has become now is cultural sewage. It's belligerent, it's mean-spirited, it's anti-woman, it revels in the worst possible racial stereotypes, and it is vulgar in the extreme. And there is nothing puritanical about saying that.
There is a difference between a double entendre or a clever aside or something that pushes the envelope a little bit. There is a difference between that and the garbage the WWF represents. I don't want my kids watching it."
Even wrestling insiders, such as former WWF champion "Superstar" Billy Graham, are appalled at the content of WWF Smackdown! In a recent interview, Mr. Graham said, "I stopped watching wrestling because they pushed the envelope too far. The shows are very degrading to women, there's foul language and gestures, and there's real strong sexual overtones. I decided I didn't want this stuff coming into my house, my eyes, or my mind. It made me physically ill."
Corporate America has shown its objections to the program as well. At least thirty-five corporations have pledged to withhold advertising dollars from the show, with more contacting the PTC on a weekly basis with the same message. The list includes corporate giants like Wendy's, Ford, General Motors, Coca-Cola, AT&T, and M&M Mars. Once the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard learned of the content on Smackdown!, they too pulled their sponsorship, stating that the show did not reflect their core values.
Again I must stress to you stock-holders that wrestling shows are having a deadly impact on our children. Four children have been killed by peers who were emulating wrestling moves they learned by watching programs such as WWF Smackdown!
Four children, from 14 months to six years old, had their lives cut tragically short because of the effect wrestling had on their peers. Police reports, attorneys for the defendants, autopsy reports, and victims' families point the finger of blame at a wrestling industry that purposely targets children as an audience.
By the way, one of my first assignments as a comedian for television way back in the 1940's was as a wrestling announcer. I did the shows tongue-in-cheek, of course, but wrestling in those days was great entertainment. It had humor, lots of action, and was also considered safe family entertainment.
A year or so ago I hosted a television documentary Special about the history of wrestling. So I love the sport. But I certainly don't love its present emphasis on cheap sex, vulgarity, and violence of the most sadistic sort.
Millions of children see the WWF Smackdown! show.
I wonder how many of you here today want your own children to see that kind of fare.
MCI has advertised on Smackdown! fifty-six times since the show began airing on a weekly basis last August. By advertising on Smackdown!, MCI is aligning its corporate values with the values of this program because your advertising dollars fund this raunchy and ultra-violent show.
MCI is known as an honorable corporation and does not need to have its reputation sullied by an alliance with the WWF. There are plenty of programs that reach your target audience that do not negatively impact our children. We have heard from your advertising executives that you intend to continue sponsoring this filth. We have come all the way here to speak to the board to see if this is the board's official position as well. Is WWF Smackdown! the type of programming that reflects the values of MCI? Will MCI continue to pay for the "cultural sewage" that influences the hearts and minds of America's children?
The PTC would like your response to this question by the 8th of June so that we may let our half-million members know whether or not MCI will still be one of Smackdowns! loyal sponsors. The PTC has run the largest advocacy ad campaign in history, reaching over 215 million people, decrying the trashy programming coming from Hollywood and calling for corporate America to act responsibly with its advertising dollars. If MCI continues to sponsor WWF Smackdown!, we will make this a national issue by letting our membership as well as the general public know that MCI does not care about the damage the WWF and it are doing to our children and that MCI's values are the same as those of the obscene, racist, violent and sexually graphic WWF Smackdown!
It is my hope that I will be able to tell them that MCI will no longer pay for Smackdowns! violent and vulgar programming -- that MCI values America's children too much to support a program that is detrimental to our nation's most valuable asset. I look forward to hearing the board's response.
Thank you for your time.
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To read the rest of this column to not only see all they have done but to also get a huge list of companies to contact please click here
