by Dan J Kroll

Posted Monday, April 18, 2011 10:58:33 PM

In what could be a television first, Hoover has announced that it will pull all of its advertising from ABC in order to show its support for fans who are upset over the cancellation of All My Children and One Life to Live. Typically, advertisers have yanked ad dollars when they've found content objectionable or contrary to their public image.

Hoover's Vice President of Marketing, Brian Kirkendall, wrote an open letter to soap fans on the company's Facebook page. Kirkendall expressed the company's "disappointment" with ABC's decision to cancel All My Children and One Life to Live. In addition to announcing that the company would yank its ad dollars from the ABC television network, Kirkendall also revealed that the company had set up a special email address where fans could send their letters of support for their canceled soaps. Hoover promised to make sure that every email is delivered to the folks at ABC.

Following is the text of the Hoover message:

To all the loyal ABC soap fans, I want you to know from me personally that we hear you loud and clear. My wife and mother are both passionate viewers of All My Children and One Life to Live, as are many of my colleagues here at Hoover. We were and are as disappointed with this news as you are. In fact, we will discontinue our advertising with ABC this Friday, 4/22.

We're making every attempt to pull our spots from these programs sooner. Because we feel that's not enough, we also want to help get your voice heard with ABC. So, we've set up a special email address, SaveTheSoaps@Hoover.com, to help pull together the mass emotional outpouring of support for our beloved ABC soaps and get it to our contacts at ABC. Please, send your emails to us at SaveTheSoaps@Hoover.com, and we'll get every, single last one of them to ABC. We're 150% committed to doing what matters most to you -– so if there's anything else we can do to help or you have any ideas, please email this address, and we will respond to you personally. Thank you for standing up for what matters to you! We need more of that in this world.

Brian Kirkendall
Vice President of Marketing Hoover

It's unclear what impact Hoover's yanked ad dollars will have on ABC's decision. A network exec, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told TVGuide that Hoover's decision to pull its ad dollars would only prove the network right. One of ABC's major reasons for cancelling the two soaps was that the shows were not generating enough income. One ad exec tells Soap Central that companies interested in saving the shows should invest more ad dollars into All My Children and One Life to Live.

However, when ad dollars start disappearing from the network's other shows, it could force the network to sit up and take notice. While ABC may have written off its soaps, the network does still need ad revenue to operate.