The Most Dangerous Show Ever Made?
An England-born franchise revamped as an MTV production, “Skins” is, according to the Parents Television Council (PTC), the “most dangerous television show ever made.” You might have heard of it. Or maybe not, considering the show is losing advertising faster than it’s gaining viewers.
Skins has more than earned the controversy it’s incited, with its glorification of teenage debauchery and rampant partying. Prior to the show’s recent premiere, MTV managed to secure endorsements from several big-name companies like Mars, General Motors, Schick and Kraft – all of whom have since rescinded their promotional efforts. This is primarily due to the PTC’s slandering the show for marketing its controversial subject matter “directly to children.” And ethics-conscious parents aren’t the only critics; fans of the original British Skins are just as vocal. Though as the following tweets attest, their criticism of the new show has more to do with preserving the sanctity of the original:
MTV, hoping to capitalize on the controversy, launched an extensive – and expensive – marketing campaign. Both clever and potentially harmful, the campaign included a Facebook app that encourages teens to publicly divulge their bad behaviour in order to earn a “wildness” score. This raises an important marketing question: When does it go too far?
Content-wise, Skins isn’t unlike MTV’s current money-maker, Jersey Shore (minus the GTL and lame-witty catchphrases), except for one major difference: Skins features teenagers. And not the young-looking, twenty-something versions popularized by the likes of Gossip Girl and Glee. The actors on Skins are as young as seventeen, which raises additional issues about child pornography laws. MTV maintains that it is in compliance with all “applicable legal requirements, but also with our responsibilities to our viewers.” Perhaps MTV is misinterpreting its so-called “responsibilities,” which should include an ethical component.