This past Friday, while an emotionally disturbed young man was on a murderous rampage on the grounds of the University of California’s Santa Barbara campus, NBC was showing a man being disemboweled by a serial killer, and a woman’s throat being graphically slit open for “entertainment.”
Haven’t we seen enough real-life bloodshed and senseless violence? Why, just months after Newtown, did the broadcast networks see fit to debut not one, not two, but three new dramas with serial killers as the protagonist?
Dr. Park Elliott Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist and criminologist who has consulted or testified in many of the highest profile US criminal cases, including Jeffrey Dahmer, the Unabomber, and the Beltway sniper, has said “We’ve had 20 years of mass murderers throughout which I have repeatedly told CNN and our other media, if you don’t want to propagate more mass murderers… Do everything you can not to make the body count the lead story, not to make the killer some kind of anti-hero.”
But that’s exactly what the networks are doing. They’re making psychopaths out to be heroes. Evil is good and black is white. And while we’re not trying to draw a direct connection between what happened at UCSB and
Hannibal – there is, to be sure, no direct documented connection that we are aware of --
the social science on the connection between media violence and real world violence is overwhelming.
NBC recently announced that they are renewing
Hannibal for another season, despite consistently low ratings. Already the show has been moved to Friday nights, where the networks put low-performing shows. And although
Hannibal debuted with respectable ratings – 4.36 million viewers – it finished its second season with only 2.35 million.
Over the next few months, advertisers will be making millions of dollars in ad commitments to the networks. It's time for those advertisers to consider whether the content on
Hannibal is consistent with the image they are trying to project.
If they endorse gruesome violence, bloodshed as entertainment, and ruthless killers as heroes then that’s the message they will be sending when they buy ad time on
Hannibal.
This content was paid for by:
Serta Simmons Holdings, LLC (Comfor Pedic)
Gary Fazio, CEO
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Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Joe Adachi, President and CEO
1 Canon Park
Melville, NY 11747
631-330-5000
Pennzoil-Quaker State Company
Jay Calbert, Chief Information Officer
700 Milam St., Ste 125
Houston, TX 77002
713-546-4000/ 713-546-6314
American Frozen Food Institute
Kraig Naasz, President and CEO
2000 Corporate Ridge, #1000
McLean, VA 22102
703-821-0770
Target Corporation
Susan Kahn, SVP Communications
1000 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55403
612-304-6073
Nissan North America, Inc. (Infiniti)
Carla Bobadilla, Senior Vice President Research and Development
1 Nissan Way
Franklin, TN 37067
615-725-1000
Verizon Communications, Inc.
John Stratton, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer
140 West Street
New York, NY 10007
212-395-1000/212-571-1897
Dyson, Inc.
Jim Rowan, Chief Operating Officer
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Chicago, IL 60654
312-469-5950
Blinds To Go
Stephen Shiller, President
101 E State Rt 4
Paramus, NJ 07652
201-441-9260/732-906-0888
Kia Motors America, Inc.
Michael Sprague, EVP Sales and Marketing
111 Peters Canyon Rd
Irvine, CA 92606
949-468-4800/949-470-2809
A.J. Richard & Sons, Inc.
Gary Richards, President and CEO
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Farmingdale, NY 11735
631-843-4300
Select Comfort Corporation (Sleep Number)
Shelly Ibach, President and CEO
9800 59th Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55442
763-551-7000/763-551-6888
Capital One Financial Corp
Richard Fairbank, Chairman, President, and CEO
1680 Capital One Drive
Mclean, VA 22102-3407
703-720-1000
Unilever United States, Inc.
Edward Daniker, Executive Officer
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Englewoods Cliffs, NJ 07632
201-894-4000
Sprint Corporation
Kevin Packingham, Senior Vice President Product
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855-848-3280
Chrysler Group LLC
Olivier Francois, Chief Marketing Officer
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248-576-5741
Microsoft Corporation
Steven Ballmer, CEO and Director
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Redmond, WA 98052-6399
425-882-8080/425-936-7329
Simmons Bedding Company
Gary Fazio, CEO
1 Concourse Pkwy, Ste. 800
Atlanta, GA 30328
770-512-7700/770-392-2560
The Men's Wearhouse, Inc.
Randall Burell, Marketing Manager
6380 Rogerdale Rd.
Houston, TX 77072
281-776-7200/281-776-7038
