Under the fire of criticism from viewers for days and dropped by several sponsors on Wednesday, the production ofOccupation double (OD) announced the withdrawal of three candidates who had intimidated other participants since the start of its 16e season in Martinique.
The announcement was made Wednesday in a press release. “Candidates, and their families, will be supervised and supported to cope with this turnaround”, it is underlined. ToRoS productions have indicated to the To have to that the candidates concerned are Philippe, Isaack and Félix. It is specified that Felix had already been eliminated in the game by the other candidates. But since there is a three-week lag between filming and the airing of episodes, viewers will only see these events in the next few weeks.
Remember that since last week, fans of the popular reality show broadcast on Noovo have accused the production of having trivialized the intimidation of which the candidate Jonathan was allegedly from other participants to inflate its ratings.
The show’s producer, Julie Snyder, apologized to the candidate last Wednesday and her team announced on Sunday that the participants will soon receive training on “non-violent communication”. This must be given in the coming days by the author and screenwriter India Desjardins, as well as the professor of didactics at UQAM and expert in intimidation Stéphane Villeneuve. In our pages, the latter recalled last week the social role that reality TV must play and urged production to measure the impact of the images and messages it transmits.
This did not change the anger of viewers who continued to criticize the production and the candidates deemed “problematic” on social networks. This also did not prevent certain sponsors on Wednesday from wanting to disassociate themselves from the show.
“We believe bullying has no place in society and on television for any reason. We also believe that respect, well-being and cohesion should be put forward, ”said the Shop Santé team on its social networks on Wednesday morning, announcing the end of its partnership with reality TV.
Bound by legal obligations, the sports supplement company clarified that it might not put an end “immediately” to its partnership, but assured that it would not renew the agreement “for all the seasons to come”.
In the process, other sponsors of the show also announced that they would end their partnership with OD for the next seasons, citing the same reasons as Shop Santé. These are the clothing brand Oraki and the mattress company Polysleep.
The Cook It meal box delivery company, also a partner, told the To have to “to be in reflection on the subject”. She nevertheless wanted to “condemn the actions of intimidation posed by certain candidates” of the show.
For its part, the Lambert bag brand intends to continue its partnership with OD but denounces “any bullying behavior”.
For this 16e edition, OD has regarding thirty commercial partners.
“Predictable”
According to the experts consulted by The duty, the reaction of OD production was predictable. “There was already criticism from viewers, but there, with the sponsors dropping them one following the other, there was clearly a lot of pressure on the show. This money, they need it, they do not offer visibility to brands for the sake of it, ”points out Caroline Lacroix, professor of marketing at the School of Management Sciences at UQAM.
She says she understands the decision of some sponsors to want to disassociate themselves from the show. “It shows that our companies have certain societal values at heart, it’s good news that they react like this,” says the professor, although she would have found it “interesting” to see the partners sit down with production to find solutions and be together “agents of change”.
However, these societal values are constantly changing over time and reality shows must adapt to avoid such outcry, underlines Pierre Barrette, professor at the School of Media at UQAM.
“What we have tolerance for — or not — is transformed. In the 70s and 80s, people were offended to see a bare breast on a TV show. Janette Bertrand. Two men holding hands, it created an uproar. Today we no longer have a problem with that, it is well accepted. But we moved our moral line elsewhere, ”argues the TV specialist.
From the movement #MoiAussifor example, society no longer has any tolerance for all forms of violence, adds Mme The cross.
One thing is certain, according to Mr. Barrette, this strong shock will probably lead the production of OD to a “questioning”, both on the choice of its candidates, and on what it really wants to offer as a “show”. “Controversies are the bread and butter of shows like OD. We like it, and when there’s nothing to criticize, we find it boring. The challenge is to find a happy medium”.
