The Duggar family show "19 Kids and Counting" got cancelled last year after Josh Duggar's child molestation scandals surfaced.
But TLC network wasted no time in creating documentaries with the Christian family. Now, barely a year after the cancellation of "19 Kids and Counting," the network created a new reality series called "Jill and Jessa: Counting On," which focuses on the lives of the Duggar siblings.
Even though millions of viewers are tuning in to watch the show, InTouch Weekly reported that the show is having a tough time attracting endorsers, including those who previously supported the Duggar family.
A rep from Cici's Pizza said, "Cici's prides itself on being a family-friendly restaurant. We recently made a large advertising buy on cable television that spanned several networks but did not target any particular program. When we learned one of our ads was placed adjacent to controversial programming, we took immediate action to stop it."
The same sentiment is echoed by the UPS Store. "It was not our intention to advertise on the program. This specific program is [now] on our list of exclusions as well as any other potential Duggar programming," a rep said.
Verizon Wireless also made a "direct response buy, which means [they] did not have control over where the advertisement ran."
"We never intended to advertise on the program or on TLC," the company's rep admitted.
Pure Michigan does not want anything to do with the Duggars as well. "The Pure Michigan ads were not supposed to air during this program, and we were disappointed to hear that they had," a rep confirmed. "We contacted TLC immediately after learning about this mistake, and have been assured no Pure Michigan ads will run on this program moving forward. The Counting On program does not meet our brand guidelines."
Whitewave Foods pulled its ads back after just one episode because of the public's perception of the family. "We have decided to no longer advertise during this show moving forward. We are always listening to our consumers, whether it be to continuously enhance our products or carefully choose where to advertise," a rep explained.
Meanwhile, Choice Hotels was also upset when it saw that one of its ads ran during "Counting On."
"We are not a sponsor or an advertiser on any TV shows or specials about the Duggars," a company statement said. "If any ads run, it is an error of the network as our advertising agency has directed them to remove our advertising from the show."
The same thing was expressed by Casey Zuber, director of communications for Mattress Firm. "After learning that we had two ads run during the premiere of the new TLC show 'Jill & Jessa: Counting On,' we have instructed TLC not to air any future paid units during this show," said Zuber.
