LOS ANGELES (July 16, 2014) – The Parents Television Council has warned parents and advertisers about the premiere of VH1’s “Dating Naked” series, a reality show with contestants who date each other in the nude, and which begins on Thursday, July 17 at 9/8 Central.
Previews for the series show contestants naked on camera for the whole show, with the nudity being partially obscured through pixilation.
“The core of the TV show’s premise – people dating in the nude – should be troubling for most parents, and it should absolutely land the show on any
responsible advertisers’ do-not-buy list. VH1 obviously thinks this is an ‘edgy’ show, perhaps even groundbreaking, but what’s clear is that this is the
kind of TV programming that is an affront to most families,” said PTC President Tim Winter.
“Because of the forced-bundling of cable network programming, every cable subscriber in the country must pay VH1 for this sordid material. Parents should
not be required to underwrite this program with their subscription dollars, and advertisers should be mindful not to associate their hard-earned brand
reputations by sponsoring it. Corporate sponsors should heed the market research showing how brands were perceived negatively when their ads appeared
alongside explicit content.
“The PTC is sending an urgent call of caution to parents. We will be holding publicly to account any companies and products that choose to advertise on the
premiere of this program and on any subsequent episodes. And we will cite the actions of this Viacom-owned network in our comments supporting Cablevision’s
antitrust lawsuit challenging the legality of Viacom’s network-bundling scheme.”