Media Applauds PTC’s Victory Over ADHD

Last week, Fox Broadcasting announced that it had cancelled its ultra-graphic Animation Domination High-Definition (ADHD) series. This announcement came only days after the PTC called out Fox for its grotesque internet cartoon “The Easter Bunny’s Coming,” and Target for sponsoring the content. The entertainment industry news media jumped on the story, with many positive references to the PTC’s role in removing this disgusting series from broadcast TV. Comments included:

“Designed to counterprogram NBC's Saturday Night Live, the raunchy content was a constant target of the Parents Television Council, a watchdog group. Broadcasting & Cable says some Fox affiliates won't miss Animation Domination.” -LOS ANGELES TIMES, 4/18/14 “ADHD debuted in the Saturday 11 p.m. hour last summer, but the most interest it drew was complaints due to the envelope-pushing content.” -TV MEDIA INSIGHTS, 4/18/14 “The Parents Television Council was at the forefront of criticism about the Easter video, calling it ‘the most explicit material we’ve ever seen produced by a broadcast television network.’ They condemn the ‘offensive nature of a video being promoted during Holy Week and Passover” as “easily X-rated material that directly targets, and appeals to, children.’ ” -MEDIAITE, 4/16/14 Decency watchdogs are no fan of ADHD. On April 16, the Parents Television Council called on Fox to take down an ADHD promotional video, called “Easter Bunny’s Coming”, that the PTC called “the most explicit material we’ve ever seen produced by a broadcast television network.” -BROADCASTING & CABLE, 4/17/14 Citing Fox’s request that affiliates not speak with the media on the meeting’s contents, station leaders were reluctant to speak on the record, though they did not appear sorry to see the ADHD program block go. Some had tired of fielding calls from upset viewers. One said the decision to scrap it might affect the revenue equation in the larger markets, but would not move the needle in his DMA. -BROADCASTING & CABLE, 4/17/14 Calling the June 28th cancellation a “big victory,” Winter said that “we’re really excited that our push-back with advertisers had an effect.” He noted that Target ads are no longer seen on the ADHD website. “If advertisers realize how vile this website is and choose to spend their media dollars elsewhere, it can’t and won’t stay commercially viable,” he said. -CNS NEWS, 4/18/14 Fox's Easter cartoon "The Easter Bunny's Coming," which is available on their Animation Domination High-Def (ADHD) online channel, is NSFW, has been called "X-rated" and could literally be the most offensive cartoon of all time. -THE HUFFINGTON POST, 4/17/14 Dan Isett, PTC director of communications and policy, says the animated Easter Bunny clip features over a dozen unbleeped "f-words," depictions of fornicating rabbits, and vulgar language too indecent to mention. Isett says the video is "material we've never seen a broadcast network broadcast and distribute." -ONE NEWS NOW, 4/18/14 Just because FOX Broadcast and the Fox News Channel are corporate cousins doesn’t mean you should expect the former to reflect the same sensibilities as the latter. Case in point, for its Animation Domination High-Def block, FOX put out what is perhaps the weirdest, most f**ked-up cartoon short of all-time. (Or, at the very least, the most f**ked-up cartoon short ever to be released by one of the major broadcast networks.) -MEDIAITE, 4/16/14 "The Easter Bunny is Coming" drew outrage from the Parents Television Council (PTC), which called it "X-rated." -OPPOSING VIEWS, 4/16/14 The ADHD channel is Fox’s online testing ground for new animated idea that could evolve into a broadcast series — such as Fox’s Family Guy, a show the PTC has a long history of protesting. -ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, 4/16/14