Several companies that advertise with TLC are responding to pressure from customers to pull ads from the popular show “19 Kids and Counting,” after star Josh Duggar apologized in the wake of the release of a 2006 police report alleging he molested underage girls as a teenager.
TLC announced Friday that it had yanked all episodes of “19 Kids and Counting” from the air, but the network did not say whether the show, which is in its 10th season, would return.
As of Wednesday morning, at least nine companies that advertise with TLC had pulled advertising from episodes of “19 Kids and Counting” or announced that they would not advertise on the program in the future. One other company said they would take the allegations against Josh Duggar into consideration in the future.
General Mills
The food manufacturing giant was the first to take action after TLC pulled all episodes of “19 Kids and Counting” from the air. A company spokesperson told Hollywood news site The Wrap that the company had decided to drop the show from its advertising schedule.
Payless Shoe Source
The shoe store told concerned customers that it was working toward removing its ads from future episodes of “19 Kids and Counting”:
@MaumeeMom Payless ads ran during this show as part of a larger buy with TLC. We are taking steps to have them removed from future episodes.
— Payless ShoeSource (@PaylessInsider) May 26, 2015
Choice Hotels
The hotel chain told customers it decided to pull its advertising from the Duggars’ show.
@moaevil Thank you for reaching out. We share your concerns and we have decided to remove our advertising from the show.
— Choice Hotels (@ChoiceHotels) May 26, 2015
CVS
The pharmacy chain CVS tweeted at customers that it would not advertise on “19 Kids and Counting” in the future.
“While our current advertising campaign includes the TLC network, we have not and will not advertise during the ’19 Kids and Counting’ program,” the company said.
Allstate Insurance
Allstate Insurance said it pulled its advertising from the program:
@MsSiraMiller We purchased advertising across all programming on TLC.. (Cont’d)
— Allstate Insurance (@Allstate) May 26, 2015
@MsSiraMiller It came to our attention that our commercials were airing during 19 Kids & Counting. We have pulled our ads from the program.
— Allstate Insurance (@Allstate) May 26, 2015
Pure Leaf Iced Tea
The company told customers on Facebook that it would no longer advertise on “19 Kids and Counting.”
Behr Paint
The paint company said on Facebook that it did advertise on “19 Kids and Counting” but was taking steps to remove its ad spots from all future episodes of the show.
Walgreens
Walgreens pharmacies originally told customers on Facebook that the company was aware that “19 Kids and Counting” had been taken off the air and promised to “monitor the situation.”
The company later said on its Facebook page that “in the wake of recent news, we are no longer advertising on the ‘19 Kids and Counting’ program.”
Ace Hardware
The hardware chain told customers that it was in the process of removing its ads from future episodes of “19 Kids and Counting.”
@The_Hotwheelz Ace ads ran on this show as part of an overall ad buy with TLC. We are removing our ads from any future episodes of the show.
— Ace Hardware (@AceHardware) May 27, 2015
H&R Block
H&R Block does advertise with TLC, although it said none of its spots are currently airing on the network. The tax prep company said it took the allegations against Duggar seriously but didn’t commit to dropping its advertising from the show in the future:
@LadyCubsFan61 Hi Erin, thanks for reaching out. We did advertise on TLC during this past tax season, but aren’t currently advertising (1/2)
— H&R Block (@HRBlock) May 23, 2015
@LadyCubsFan61 We take this seriously and will keep it in mind when we advertise again next year. (2/2) -Lauren
— H&R Block (@HRBlock) May 23, 2015
Keurig
The coffee brewer manufacturer said on its Facebook page that it is not currently advertising on TLC and noted that the network was no longer airing “19 Kids and Counting.”
This post has been updated.
