Laura Stampler
Degrassi Boycotted By Florida Family Association Because Of Transgender And Gay Characters
First Posted: 06/23/11 06:10 PM ET Updated: 06/23/11 06:11 PM ET
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/23/degrassi-boycott-florida-family-association_n_883252.html#s296800&title=DegrassiThe emails came from supporters of the conservative Florida Family Association (FFA). Dessen received them because her publisher, Penguin Viking, had bought ad time for her book on cable channel Teen Nick around the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, as had major corporations like Verizon, Colgate and Hewlett Packard, to name a few. All were targets of Tuesday's email blitz.
For the past year, members of the FFA have monitored every episode of Degrassi, the award-winning high school drama that tackles issues ranging from date rape to abortion, noting every product promoted during commercial breaks. They then schedule email blasts asking those advertisers to boycott Teen Nick and MTV, which also syndicates the show, for airing what they described in the email as "salacious and irresponsible propaganda." The email also asked advertisers, "Will your company continue to advertise on this irresponsible show?"
