The Parents Television Council (PTC) is not happy with fast-food chain McDonald's decision to sponsor Ryan Murphy's new television series "Scream Queens," considering that the show only promotes gore and violence, not to mention necrophilia.
In its review, the PTC warned parents that the new series is a "mean-spirited, sexualised, gory horror show" that is "unsafe for children of any age."
The council is strongly urging McDonald's to reconsider sponsoring the show for its own good, saying it will reflect negatively on its image. "The Golden Arches brand now stands for sexual fantasies with dead people and with decapitating college coeds. No wonder McDonald's is having problems attracting families, when millions of the company's media dollars underwrite such content on 'Scream Queens' early in the evening on primetime broadcast TV," said PTC President Tim Winter.
The series has only aired four episodes thus far, but it has already shown disturbing content such as a character's face being deep fried in cooking oil; another character being sprayed with hydrochloric acid while others simply watch and do nothing to help; and several characters being buried on the ground while a masked red "Devil" drives over their heads using a lawn mower.
One episode even had characters discussing necrophilia as if it's a good thing. "No doubt TV critics, and the entertainment industry itself, will hail 'Scream Queens' as hilariously campy, and praise the show for its 'courage' in bringing premium cable content to the broadcast Family Hour. But parents are warned to keep their children and teens as far away from this programne as possible," the PTC warned.
By continuing to sponsor the show, McDonald's will be financing a "toxic media culture," and this will only end up hurting their own pockets, the PTC said. But it it's not too late for McDonald's to back out, the council said.
"We urge McDonald's to do well and to do good at the same time, by changing course and recognising what scientific research has already proven to be true — that advertising on TV shows with explicit content can truly be bad for business," the PTC said. "One such study is from the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University and it suggests that programs with high levels of violent or sexual content can actually repress the viewers' ability to recall advertised brands. By contrast, subjects who watched 'neutral' programming were better able to recall the ads the following day," the council said.
