Major Corporations Not As Jazzed By Racist 'Survivor' As Are White-Supremacists
It's not just General Motors who have withdrawn their advertising from Survivor: Cook Islands: Major corporations like Coca-Cola, Home Depot and Campbell's Soup have also opted not to sponsor CBS' foray into competitive ethno-Darwinism. And while a Campbell's spokesperson insists the decision was made "back during the upfront," we imagine the show's race vs. race premise certainly helped cement their decision; after all, familiar, comfy sentiments such as "Mmm mm good," and "You Can Do It. We Can Help," become that much harder to sell when immediately following a contestant's meanspirited implorations to, "Paddle harder! The Chinamen are gaining on us!" But not everyone has shown a reluctancy to the series' concept: Since the announcement, white-supremacist internet boards have been ablaze with excited chatter about what the series could do for their cause. From TV Week:
"This is a great idea," wrote poster "Drafli Hakon" on Stormfront, which claims 120,000 members. "This will get all those millions of couch potatoes who watch the show [rooting] for their own. Win, lose or draw, millions of whites will start to remember that they ARE part of a tribe. If the Whites win, they will feel pride. If they lose, they will feel resentment towards those who won. It's win-win for us."
Another poster, "Krom," agreed. "This is great and should be really interesting!" the poster wrote. "One benefit I see is that people will really see racial differences are real PLUS they will be able to root for their own people; a sense of racial solidarity. Good luck to the white team!"
As unlikely as it sounds, it may well be a stale reality franchise that mobilizes white-supremacy's many splintered factions, inspiring the movement to seek mainstream legitimacy that hasn't been seen since David Duke's heyday. It mat not be what Mark Burnett had intended with his little attention-grabbing scheme, but he always has the safety net of falling back on the old, "I was only following orders" excuse, by quoting Les Moonves' clear-cut directives of, "Yes, I want you to do it. If you do it, I want you to do it right. Don't back off of it. Just do it."