V: ABC Cancels Skywriting Campaign, Releases Extended Preview

It was recently announced that ABC was going to use some skywriting to promote their upcoming remake of the 1980’s NBC mini-series and TV show, V. The plan was for airplanes to draw giant red V’s across the sky at over 25 landmarks across the country and keep doing it until the show debuts on November 3rd.

Well, Lisa de Moraes, a reporter for The Washington Post, wrote an article about the promotion and described the amount of pollution that the campaign would add to the atmosphere. According to estimated figures, the skywriting would use more than 400 gallons of fuel, and add 800 grams of lead and three tons of CO2 to the atmosphere.

That may not seem like a lot but it doesn’t exactly line up with the ecological stance of Disney, ABC’s parent company. Earlier this year, the house of mouse promised to reduce its environmental footprint with plans to cut its fuel emissions in half by the year 2012.

ABC has now decided to rethink the whole idea and has cancelled its skywriting plans. According to a spokesperson from the network, they’ll spend the money in other ways.

One aspect of the V promotion is apparently to release an extended preview of the first nine and a half minutes of the series. The network has been airing numerous commercials to entice viewers to tune in but ABC is hoping this will really whet people’s appetite.

What do you think? Was ABC smart in pulling the skywriting promotion or just being too politically correct?