The Real O’Neals, ABC’s new anti-Catholic sitcom scored at least 18 big name sponsors in spite of repeated poor ratings, reports the Catholic League. But the show is still losing one major advertiser.
Goya originally sponsored but backed out and promised not to advertise on the show after the Catholic League met with the company. “We have had productive conversations with several sponsors lately,” said the League in a press release.
The Real O’Neals, loosely based on the childhood of anti-Catholic gay sex advice columnist Dan Savage, is unapologetic in its anti-Catholic sentiments. The show features Catholic mom Eileen (Martha Plimpton), who tries to keep up appearances as her family’s demons are revealed over the course of the show. They include her divorce, her daughter’s stealing, her son’s announcement that he is gay, and her other son’s eating disorder and chronic masturbation.
While the caricatures drawn by the show are meant to show religious families with their facades of holiness down, there is little that is real about the Real O’Neals.
As with many of his endeavors, executive producer Dan Savage’s purpose with the Real O’Neals is to undermine both the Catholic Church and conservatism. In 2003 Savage “Google-bombed” Rick Santorum’s name to mean an x-rated sex act. He has on multiple occasions viciously bashed the Catholic Church and Christianity, including saying, “we can learn to ignore the bulls**t in the Bible about gay people.”
The show has brought in low ratings since its debut on March 2. Last Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. it garnered 3.46 million viewers between ages 18 and 49. Airing at 8 p.m. NBC’s The Voice brought in 10.07 million, and CBS’s NCIS drew 10.25 million.
The Real O’Neals is not the first show bashing Catholics ABC has kept alive. In the 1990s ABC dragged out Nothing Sacred’s run.
It makes little sense for companies to put their advertising dollars behind a show that has struggled from the start both with critics and ratings. Yet ABC continues to keep the bigoted show alive.
The companies that sponsor the anti-Christian program are:
Subaru
Lincoln Motor Company
Delta Airlines
Uncle Ben’s
Toyota
Dawn Ultra (Proctor & Gamble)
Nespresso (Nestle)
Target
Claritin (Bayer)
Honey Nut Cheerios (General Mills)
Verizon Fios
McDonalds
Advil (Pfizer)
TJX
General Motors
Allegra
Johnson & Johnson
Geico
