• by Wayne Friedman , September 8, 2005

Some advertising executives are nervous about airing commercials in a new ABC show called "Invasion" because the initial episode focuses on a major hurricane event.

With footage consisting of cars turning over, flooding, and whipping winds tearing up trees, one media agency executive is mulling over removing his client's advertising from the episode. The scenes are similar to recent real-life news footage of the Gulf Coast disaster resulting from Hurricane Katrina, where estimates are that thousands of lives have been lost.

"I'm a little skittish," said the executive. "It shows how people are suffering. People could consider ABC heartless for running it."

"I've had discussions with some people about this," said Shari Anne Brill, vice president and director of programming services of Carat USA. "There are advertisers who would be cautious. They don't want to be associated with this kind of art that imitates life. The timing of this is the problem. Maybe ABC could just run it commercial-free."

ABC has already been sensitive to the situation. Last week, it pulled all promos for the show--primarily because the promos' footage focused on the hurricane itself.

The media agency executive, who didn't want to be identified, hasn't made a decision just yet. But he is leaning toward recommending that his client not run in the episode: "I'm sure other advertisers are looking over the same thing." The executive would, however, consider running in other episodes of the show.

ABC says the hurricane is just one element of the episode--the storm has nothing to do with the series' overall theme. "The premise of the show isn't a hurricane," said an ABC spokesman.

Indeed, the show only starts there. It is about a park ranger in the Florida Everglades who goes to great lengths to protect a small community during a major hurricane. During the raging storm, people claim to see mysterious lights--aliens, according to some believers. It is left open to interpretation whether the aliens might have initiated the hurricane.

Media agency programming executives say the episode's fictional footage doesn't copy exactly real-life events from the Gulf Coast hurricane disaster. Real-life news stories have focused mostly on the flooding aftermath.

"It's not about people being herded in a dome," said Carat's Brill. "It's not a category seven hurricane. It's not like an earthquake. You don't see rampant damage."