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Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Hey Fox: WWJD?

Last week I laughed when Mary Roach landed on my TV screen, dancing like a doublejointed landbound penguin and making sounds like an animal in heat. It was funny when she said she has “many different voices.” I even agreed when one of those voices in her head said that Mark McGrath is hot.

Millions of viewers had a laugh at the expense of Mary, and now it should be over. But it’s not. Following the commercial popularity of William Hung from last year’s American Idol, Fox is obviously determined to make Mary Roach their new poster child. A video on the American Idol homepage shows Mary at her worst. Commercials focus on her. The emphasis isn’t on American Idol, but on American Delusionist.

Fox made a bad (and immoral) marketing decision. William Hung is a terrible singer, but he was also a student at UC Berkley who appeared stable, intelligent and mentally sound. The public could laugh with him — and even at him — because we felt he was laughing at himself, as well.

Mary Roach, on the other hand, may not even make it through beauty school. She may end up singing to herself in a psychiatric ward. By pushing her on TV for the sake of ratings and commercial benefit, Fox is looking like the kid who shoves the retarded kid off the swingset. Of course, the network isn’t known for its high-class programming. But — unless it thinks news articles on the mental destruction of Mary Roach is good PR — I would expect better marketing decisions.

(P.S. I can’t believe I even wasted thought and screen space on American Idol. Now you know my hidden weakness!)

Posted by Aaron on January 25, 2005 2:57 PM