Daisy chased down this New York Post piece about the 20/20 "Win My Baby" episode where they are now saying, "Amid the fury, ABC has since yanked the promo and replaced it with a toned-down version that presents the program less as a reality show and more as a documentary," and, ""It is a thoughtful report on the process of open adoption that we think will be of interest to the American people. We simply wanted to make sure that people understood what we would be broadcasting."
I'm not sure if they can be believed, but I'm glad Daisy found that article -- at least they came to a sudden screeching halt on the reality-TV show-like promos, and mostly because of pressure swarming in furiously from the Internet. That feels empowering, a bit. It may be that the promo was simply a marketing ploy gone wrong and all out of synch with the tone of the show, but it's just as likely that the marketing ploy matched the tone and the show's been hastily re-edited to achieve a more documentary-like atmosphere. Either way, it was an incredibly stupid decision on someone's part over at ABC that promoting this in a circus-like "reality-TV" show atmosphere was good television and/or good "news." Finally, people are talking back about this. Maybe the message will get through to other networks.
(I think the show is set to air Friday, April 30, to answer Daisy's questions in the comments.)
Posted by toni at April 29, 2004 12:37 PM"...but it's just as likely that the marketing ploy matched the tone and the show's been hastily re-edited to achieve a more documentary-like atmosphere."
Ah, you might be right.
"Finally, people are talking back about this. Maybe the message will get through to other networks."
Oh I do hope so!