Footy Show An Anz No Go

The Age

Thursday May 22, 2008

Samantha Lane and Chris Johnston

THE ANZ has withdrawn advertising from The Footy Show in an apparent protest against its attitude towards women.

The bank last night confirmed it had deliberately dissociated itself from one of Australia's highest rating sports shows.

In what is a largely symbolic demand, rather than a costly one for Channel Nine, the ANZ will continue its current commercial agreement with the network but has directed that its ads not be aired during the program.

"We are not currently running adverts on The Footy Show. It was a commercial decision, as The Footy Show in its current format does not allow us to connect well with the customer base," an ANZ spokeswoman told The Age last night.

The bank's promotion for a debit card had been running during the show in Brisbane and Perth before the ANZ requested at the beginning of this month that the ads be placed elsewhere.

The decision was made in light of an infamous stunt in which Sam Newman manhandled a lingerie-clad mannequin he dressed up as The Age's chief football writer, Caroline Wilson.

This prompted a group of the AFL's most influential women to sign a letter of complaint to Nine boss David Gyngell, calling for the cast and crew of The Footy Show to receive counselling on their attitude towards women.

Newman responded by saying the signatories to the letter were "liars and hypocrites" and that women board members in football served "very little purpose".

One of the signatories, Western Bulldogs director Dr Susan Alberti, launched a defamation action against Channel Nine, Newman and the show's co-host Garry Lyon.

Lyon had said that he believed Dr Alberti had reserved two tables in The Footy Show's studio audience this season. Dr Alberti later said that she had bid for the tables at a charity auction and then donated them to another charity.

Last October, the ANZ also ended a 19-year sponsorship arrangement with West Coast - believed to be worth several hundred thousand dollars a year - after several of the club's footballers, including Ben Cousins, were implicated in drug-related controversies. The bank did not, however, officially attribute the decision to the drug controversy.

Channel Nine declined to comment, saying that matters between the network and its advertisers were confidential.

Samantha Lane appears on Channel Ten's Before The Game.

© 2008 The Age

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