Good Media
Walmart and Proctor and Gamble: Right On Course with Family-Values TV
Andrea Rock, contributing editor
There are some among us who like to bash corporate America, and Walmart has taken its share of hits in recent years. But that huge corporation has teamed up with another business giant — Proctor and Gamble — to create family-friendly, made-for TV movies. You may have noticed that there is a dearth of family programming on TV these days, with networks and cable stations seeming to be in a race to see who can produce the most vile and crude entertainment. In defense of such trash as MTV’s Skins, Hollywood claims that G-rated fare doesn’t sell. But Ted Baehr, founder of the Christian Film and Television Commission, shows that year after year, the highest-grossing films are consistently those that are G-rated. The more that violence, sex, and foul language are introduced, the more the profits recede!
Walmart and P&G did their own research, in collaboration with the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) Alliance for Family Entertainment, and came to the same conclusion. The Family Movie Night project seeks to fill the void. It launched last year, with four successful shows: “Secrets of the Mountain,” “The Jensen Project,” “A Walk in My Shoes,” and “Change of Plans.” Each story offers positive values and “teachable moments” upon which parents can expand. Even the advertisements are family-friendly! The ultimate goal is to produce a made-for-TV movie each week, but for now, the shows are fewer and farther between. And the series is now reinforced with a website: FamilyMovieNight.com, a Facebook page, and a Twitter feed. The plan for this year is to air five more films, and two have already played: “Truth Be Told” aired in April, and “Field of Vision” aired June 11. The final three will air on August 6, September 3, and sometime in December. All of last year’s films are available on DVD at Walmart, and all of this year’s shows will be as well.
The creators want the public to know that this initiative has grown out of a need quite clearly articulated by parents. The themes of the movies, in fact, are developed out of conversations with moms from across America. For example, “Secrets of the Mountain” and “The Jensen Project” use hi-tech adventure to teach the real importance of family; “A Walk in My Shoes” deals with making snap judgments about others, and learning compassion through that experience; “Truth Be Told,” as the title implies, uses a sit-com format to show the importance of honesty; and “Field of Vision” deals with the much-in-the-news topic of bullying. The ratings for last year’s shows were quite respectable, with each one landing within the top three offerings for their timeslot, on network TV. That success is important, not only so that Walmart and P&G can grow the project to its goal of a movie per week, but also because other producers and advertisers will be watching for the success or failure of such family-friendly programming. Last year’s programs drew 4 million to 7.5 million viewers; the goal is to have 10-20 million. Those latter numbers will truly attract Hollywood’s notice!
Remember that two huge, international corporations have invested in this project. There are countless ways these businesses can make money, but they have chosen this avenue in an effort to improve family life in America. The producers of the project, who have put their careers on the line for this, see a small window of opportunity for it to succeed. They need to get the number of viewers up, while industry enthusiasm is high — or at least curious about the prospects! So if you think this sounds like a project worthy of your family, do try to tune in. This is a goal we can all support!
