Fantom Technologies Direct, Inc. has become the 30th company to quit advertising on the ABC show, “Nothing Sacred.” A spokeswoman for the company, which used an (800) number to advertise its vacuum cleaner, said that ABC placed one of its purchased spots on the November 6 episode of the show.  “I have taken the necessary steps with our advertising agency to ensure that this is not repeated,” she said, “by instructing them specifically to refrain from running our advertising during any future broadcasts of ‘Nothing Sacred.'”

The other companies that previously withdrew their support of the show are: Isuzu, Weight Watchers, K-Mart, Benckiser, DuPont, Red Lobster, Ocean Spray, Sears, Glaxo Wellcome , Ponderosa, Dunkin’ Donuts, Scott’s Liquid Gold, Chrysler-Plymouth, Honda, Arm & Hammer, Home Depot, Borden, Alberto Culver, Montgomery Ward, Ovaltine, Dairy Queen, Mutual of Omaha, Telecom*USA, Cigna, McCormick, Pier 1, NordicTrack, John Paul Mitchell Systems and Meineke .

William Donohue voiced his joy today at the latest news:

“Fantom Technologies Direct acted quickly and responsibly by dissociating itself from the political agenda of ‘Nothing Sacred.’  In doing so, it makes its mark on the conscience of consumers, and this is especially true of those consumers who are committed to the pursuit of social justice.

“With 30 down and fewer left to drop, I only hope that the remaining advertisers wake up and smell the coffee. It’s never too late to quit-all it takes is a little Ray of compassion, love and understanding.”

Meineke has become the 29th company to drop sponsorship of the ABC show, “Nothing Sacred.” Meineke explained that it never officially sponsored the show, but admitted that one of its ads did appear on the November 13 edition of “Nothing Sacred”; it has notified the company that purchases media time for its ads not to buy time on the show again.

The other companies that have withdrawn their ads are: Isuzu, Weight Watchers, K-Mart, Benckiser, DuPont, Red Lobster, Ocean Spray, Sears, Glaxo Wellcome, Ponderosa, Dunkin’ Donuts, Scott’ s Liquid Gold, Chrysler-Plymouth, Honda, Arm & Hammer, Home Depot, Borden, Alberto Culver, Montgomery Ward, Ovaltine, Dairy Queen, Mutual of Omaha, Telecom*USA, Cigna, McCormick, Pier 1, NordicTrack and John Paul Mitchell Systems.

 William Donohue was happy with the news:

 “Meineke did what many other companies did: it purchased air time on ABC via its ad agency and never expected any trouble.  But once it learned that one of its ads showed up on ‘Nothing Sacred,’ steps were immediately taken to quash the public outrage that was building. In doing so, Meineke assured its consumers of its goodwill.

 “Most people probably have no idea what the networks put on TV on a Saturday night, so it wasn’t a bad idea to drop ‘Nothing Sacred’ in the 9 p.m. slot this past Saturday.  More good news for Disney/ABC: they certainly succeeded in not offending the Catholic League (we just thought it was a bore).  But, alas, not all the news is good.  This episode was so soporific that it’s a safe bet that most people never made it beyond the ads for the John Denver CD’s.”