Coalition Urges Advertisers to Boycott ‘Daisy’

A coalition of media watchdog and minority groups has sent a letter to CBS advertisers asking them not to buy commercial time for the pilot of the “Driving Miss Daisy” television series that the network is airing Friday.

The letter, dated Aug. 14, from the Media Image Coalition of Minorities and Women, which is endorsed and staffed by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, said that the situation comedy would have “serious social consequences” if aired in the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots.

The coalition is composed of several groups, including the American Jewish Congress, the Los Angeles Black Media Coalition, Nosotros Inc., the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in Los Angeles, and the Assn. of Asian Pacific American Artists.

Barbara Brogliatti, a spokeswoman for Warner Bros. Television, which is producing the show, said in response to the protest: “Everyone involved is very proud of this effort. They’ve worked very hard to make the project true to the spirit of the time, yet sensitive to the issues of today.”

CBS officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The letter states that the coalition, the commission and the NAACP national headquarters contacted CBS and Warner Bros. officials last May when it was learned that plans were under way to air the show, which stars Robert Guillaume and Joan Plowright and is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play and the Academy Award-winning movie.

In one of the letters sent to CBS, Minnie Lopez-Baffo, president of the human relations commission, said the group had read excerpts of the pilot script, and “are frankly amazed that any responsible media organization would consider programming that perpetuates such an archaic, negative stereotype of a black male throughout 26 episodes of prime-time television.”

“Dialogue such as ‘Dishere latch ain’ catch the way it should. I’mo fix it fo’ you,’ and ‘Lawd, it’s a good thing I got patience, cause disyeah woman sho’ tryin’ it!’ has no place on American television today.”

By showing the pilot, the coalition letter said, CBS “is asking its advertisers to pay for its production costs without regard for the potential negative impact it may have on its sponsors. The Media Image Coalition respectfully requests that you carefully consider whether you want to support this show.”

Although coalition representatives asked to see the pilot, they were denied by CBS, they wrote.

Attached to the coalition letter is another letter with a CBS Broadcast Group letterhead from Beth W. Bressen, assistant to the president. That letter states that the pilot was not on the fall schedule, but that the program underwent “a significant amount of scrutiny” from network executives.