Duggar Family’s Return To Television: Who Is Sponsoring It — And Who Refuses?

As the Duggar family returns to television, one question has been asked over and over by those who think the network is making a mistake by returning the family — particularly the two sisters who defended Josh Duggar when his history of molestation was revealed — to a public platform. That question is this: Who are the sponsors? The secondary question: How do we contact them and let them know how we feel about more Duggar specials?

The answer to that question is a bit more complex. First, TLC has not yet stated whether the “specials” featuring two Duggar daughters, Jill Dillard and Jessa Seewald, will be commercial-free, as the network’s recent special on sexual abuse, also featuring Jessa and Jill, was. If so, the answer is that there are no direct corporate sponsors to contact. However, TLC is owned by Discovery Communications, and you can share your opinions, positive or negative, about the Duggar family’s return to television with them on Discovery’s Viewer Relations page.

As for corporate sponsors, none have yet declare publicly that they will sponsor the shows — perhaps knowing that if they identify themselves, people will call on them to pull advertising from the Duggar family’s shows, or face boycotts. The same effect may have contributed to TLC officially canceling 19 Kids and Counting to begin with — when Josh Duggar’s crimes were revealed, the public began addressing the sponsors, many of whom quickly pulled advertising from the show. By the end of May, ET had a list of 21 companies who had, to one degree or another, assured the public they wouldn’t be supporting the family’s fame. This ranged from companies noting that they had no current ads on TLC at all to companies assuring that, if the show was reinstated, it wouldn’t bear ads for their products.

No company directly stated, at that time, that it wouldn’t sponsor any future shows featuring the Duggar family, though of course, at that point, there was no reason to assume such a show would ever occur.

If you’re seeking corporations to contact about possible future sponsorship of Duggar family television shows, here’s a list of those who responded to consumer concerns before, with contact links. Most of these companies can also be reached via Facebook or Twitter.

The following not only pulled sponsorship, but spoke with concern for child safety, and might be the most likely to withhold sponsorship of further shows about the family: Choice Hotels, Crayola and King’s Hawaiian.

Many others pulled sponsorship from the Duggar family’s long-running reality show with less comment: Allstate Insurance, Behr Paint, Firehouse Subs, Jimmy Dean, Party City, Pizza Hut, Pure Leaf Iced Tea, Ricola, Sherwin-Williams, and Walgreens.

Some companies specifically addressed “future episodes” in their statements, though, again, no company addressed the possibility of other shows featuring the Duggar family. These companies’ statements hint at a distaste for future sponsorship: Ace Hardware, David’s Bridal, and Payless.

ConAgra declared an intention to pull sponsorship “until further notice,” and Keurig released a noncommittal statement affirming that the company does not currently advertise with TLC, and pointedly avoiding mention of future sponsorship. H&R Block similarly disassociated itself from the network as a whole, but also stated that the company takes such concerns seriously, and would not advertise with the show in the future.

CVS declared that it has not, and will not in the future, sponsor 19 Kids and Counting.

What does all of that say, though, for the three upcoming Duggar specials? If they bear corporate sponsors, they will likely be companies already doing advertising business with TLC, including those above. None of the above has yet expressed that they will sponsor the Duggar family special episodes, or that they will refrain from doing so, but those who already have advertising with the TLC network are most likely to be added to the sponsor list. Variety notes that, though these companies did pull sponsorship from 19 Kids and Counting, none pulled their ads from TLC altogether.

At least one company has responded to a customer’s concerns by saying they will not sponsor the upcoming Duggar family specials: Bissel.

@lizzie814 We have taken steps to remove our advertising from all future episodes and specials associated with the show.

— BISSELL (@BISSELLclean) September 25, 2015

The first of the new specials featuring the Duggar daughters is promised before the end of the year. In the meantime, many consumers are telling TLC and all potential corporate sponsors that they want no part of it. It can be expected that more corporations will declare a stance on advertising during the Duggar family specials in upcoming weeks and months, and this may be what decides the future of the specials and any possible spin-off afterward.

[Photo credits: Jill Dillard Instagram, TLC, Duggar family Instagram]