PTC Urges Jack in the Box to Clean Up TV Sponsorships

LOS ANGELES (February 13, 2009) � The Parents Television Council called on Jack in the Box to become a more responsible TV advertiser at the company�s annual Shareholder meeting today.

PTC LA Foothills Chapter Director Michele Mac Neal addressed company executives during the meeting. �As a mother, I ask you today to end your sponsorship of crude television, and instead sponsor family-friendly television, coinciding with your corporate efforts in helping children within the community,� Mac Neal said.

Within the past year, Jack in the Box has appeared in television shows such as Nip/Tuck, Dirt and Gossip Girl on the CW network that used instant messaging terms such as �OMFG� in its print ad campaign to entice children to watch the program.

In recent episodes of Nip/Tuck sponsored by Jack in the Box, one of the plot lines involved sadomasochistic sexual deviant behavior. A male character regularly visited a dominatrix, who bit and bruised him during their sexual encounters. Another episode discussed that incest had taken place between a brother and sister. In addition, there is a scene where a woman is shown stabbing a man repeatedly and blood spurts out of his mouth while he gasps and chokes on his own blood.

�Jack in the Box has pulled a �Jekyll and Hyde� on families: it wants families to eat at its restaurants, but yet it sponsors some of the most graphic and anti-family friendly programming on television today. Millions of parents are counting on Jack in the Box and other TV sponsors to realize that they play a fundamental role in keeping the most shocking, graphic and gratuitous material on the air; and that these types of shows contribute to a negative media culture for our children. Jack in the Box can change, and we urge them to do so,� said PTC President Tim Winter.

�A study by the RAND Corporation found that �adolescents with a high level of exposure to television shows with sexual content are twice as likely to get pregnant or impregnate someone as those who saw fewer programs of this kind over a period of three years,�� Mac Neal said at the meeting.

�You must agree Madame Chairman that this media buying pattern is in conflict with your own corporate values. Please establish media guide lines that are reflective of all your good work such as The Jack in the Box Foundation which has helped children throughout the United States, by sponsoring events provided by the Big Brother Big Sister mentoring program.

�I am pleading with you on behalf of millions of Americans to adopt responsible advertising guidelines. I would like to let 1.3 million PTC members know Jack in the Box is joining the campaign to help clean up TV,� Mac Neal added.

To speak with a representative from the Parents Television Council, please contact Kelly Oliver (ext. 140) or Megan Franko (ext. 148) at (703) 683-5004.

The Parents Television Council� (www.parentstv.org�) is a non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment. It was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media. This national grassroots organization has more than 1.3 million members across the United States, and works with television producers, broadcasters, networks and sponsors in an effort to stem the flow of harmful and negative messages targeted to children. The PTC also works with elected and appointed government officials to enforce broadcast decency standards. Most importantly, the PTC produces critical research and publications documenting the dramatic increase in sex, violence and profanity in entertainment. This information is provided free of charge so parents can make informed viewing choices for their own families.