In a case of “somebody dropped the ball,” a British charterboat company pulled its television ads from a popular TV show after an episode featured a boat fire scene moments after a commercial for the company promoted its European cruises.
The detective show “Broadchurch,” which has attracted 7 million viewers, had a key plot development that involved a boat set on fire at night and left to drift in a harbor, according to The Independent.
The burning boat scene was shown minutes after a Viking River Cruise promotion, “Expanding the world in comfort,” had depicted a vessel in its fleet taking passengers on a nighttime cruise, and the company subsequently ceased it advertising schedule with the ITV network .
The juxtaposition prompted Tweets from viewers, including one saying, “That boat on fire at the end of tonight’s ‘Broadchurch’ is how I imagine all Viking River Cruises end.” The company, which operates the world’s largest fleet of deluxe vessels on the waterways of Europe, the Ukraine and China, believed that it couldn’t be associated with the plot development and suspended its sponsorship, the newspaper reported.
The cruise clips were reportedly due to return to “Broadchurch” after Viking was satisfied that there would be no further boat-related conflagrations, but the company later said it would be pulling its sponsorship clips from the entire series.
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