After multinational firm Procter & Gamble and Jollibee Foods Corporation's Mang Inasal suspended their ad placements on Willing Willie, pawnshop chain Cebuana Lhuillier has suspended its segment sponsorship on the TV5 show, reports PEP.ph. The news comes after the controversial March 12 episode of Willing Willie where six-year-old contestant Jan-Jan Estrada cried while gyrating, prompting allegations of child abuse.
According to a statement by Cebuana Lhuillier, the suspension will take effect on April 11 "while resolution on the matter is pending." The statement reads: "We expect our business partners to promote good values, protect children's rights and exercise prudence in communicating to the general public. We have taken note of the TV5 management's official statement and the corrective measures they have taken. We trust that they will ensure that a similar incident will not happen again."
Unilever Philippines also announced today that it will suspend its participation in all reality-based live game shows starting April 11. According to their statement posted on the Facebook page of Entrepreneur Philippines, "this measure will be in place until (they) observe stricter and objective self-regulatory guidelines across networks and proper enforcement by the relevant government agencies of existing content regulations."
Unilever Philippines also said they will ask the Philippine Association of National Advertisers to "help the networks develop a strict and consistent self-regulatory framework" that the company expects to be in place "no later than one month."
CDO, another advertiser on Willing Willie, posted this message on their official website: "True to our statement dated March 31, 2011, this is to announce that our sponsorship in Willing Willie will already end on April 9, 2011."
The announcement is linked to their March 31 statement stating that the Jan-Jan incident "jolted (them) out of (their) comfort zone as an advertiser in the top-rating show" because they are against abuse and exploitation. However, the statement also said that at the time, they decided to continue their Willing Willie sponsorship until the end of their prior advertising commitment with the show. "Not withdrawing does not mean CDO will tolerate the show or its host to go against the values we stand for."
For more on this story, log on to PEP.ph, the Facebook page of Entrepreneur Philippines and CDO's official website.
