Dixie issues

Last week The Dixie Chicks scored big on the PR front as Producers, The Weinstein Co. claimed NBC and CW refused to airs an ad campaign for the upcoming documentary ‘Shut Up and Sing’. You may remember last year, when the Dixie Chicks received a universal panning for making a saying they were ‘Embarrassed’ Bush was from Texas. CW refutes the fact saying that TWC didn’t put in an order for ad space. This was seemingly confirmed by NBC. The Backlash saw their core fan base within the country listening community, a population with whom they have always had a tenuous relationship, all but vanish amidst a campaign run by the Free Republic Group.  

Variety broke the story last week saying that in addition to NBC, “they hadn’t heard back yet from the commercial clearance departments at ABC, CBS and Fox”.
The Variety article continues…
According to the Weinstein Co., NBC's commercial clearance department said in writing that it "cannot accept these spots as they are disparaging to President Bush."
TWC also quoted a rep from the CW as saying it had concerns that "we do not have appropriate programming in which to schedule this spot."

Matt Drudge Chimed in early on with a quote from Harvey himself:

“It’s a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America. The idea that anyone should be penalized for criticizing the president is sad and profoundly un-American.”

TWC is apparently also considering legal action. I somehow think that after this publicity they should be thanking NBC!

If you’re a fan of the Chick bookmark the fan blog site from the film Shut Up and Post.

My take is the Weinstein’s are absolute PR scholars. Need to make hype? Make the most of a controversial film? There’s no one better….