"PULLING ADS" IS JUST ANOTHER FORM OF ADVERTISING

Remember back in 2011 when Taco Bell, GM and other advertisers pulled their ads from MTV's watered-down port of the British hit Skins? News flash: it wasn't because execs were offended or had moral objections to the show itself. It had nothing to do with public outcry. It was a marketing tactic in itself, a clever way of getting more advertising bang for the buck, and possibly getting some of those bucks back.

An advertiser's moral compass. By Agnico-Eagle, via Wikimedia Commons

The concept is simple. You attach some ads to something you know will be controversial, perhaps a show like Skins or All-American Muslim (wonder how many advertisers "pulled out" of that show in a post-9/11 America? 64). You put money into the ads, but then you pull them because of some moral or patriotic outrage. The media buzz generated by the "pull-out" gets you spots on all the major news channels for free. The story of your taking the moral high ground is strewn across the internet, liked and shared on Facebook, tweeted and retweeted in the Twiterverse, and subject to choppily written, pat-on-the-back posts in the blogosphere. And you may get some of that original investment back from the networks for being "forced" to pull your ads.

We're sure the GM execs who greenlit ads for MTV's Skins had no idea the show was about teenage sex and drug use. It's not like the show had been on in England for four years. And we'll bet those 64 advertisers who pulled out of All-American Muslim had no idea what that show would be about. They must have been sure it would be a hit. American TV-watchers just love Muslims, especially when they steal our words and tack them on themselves. American Muslim? No such thing. (All joking aside, there was at least some media backlash in that case. Cries of racism and nationalism rang out on the internet, and for good reason.)

Boycotts are fun!

So to the people riding high horses and charging for boycotts and federal investigations on moral grounds, jump off the saddle and ask yourself if the corporations who pull their ads really support your cause. Or do they want you sharing their story with your knitting circle on Facebook? Real life isn't like The Grinch. The heartless can't just grow hearts.