CDO ends advertising on ‘Willing Willie’

MANILA, Philippines—CDO Foodsphere Inc. on Friday announced it, too, was pulling out ads from the beleaguered “Willing Willie” show.

“True to our statement dated March 31, 2011, this is to announce that our sponsorship in Willing Willie will already end on April 9, 2011,” the food firm said in a brief statement posted on its website.

CDO last Thursday said the controversial episode on “Willing Willie”, where television host Willie Revillame was seen egging on a six-year-old boy to simulate a striptease, “jolted us out of our comfort zones” even as it maintained it was “in no position to pass judgement” on the issue.

Earlier Friday, the country’s largest pawnshop chain, Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshop, announced it would pull out ads from “Willing Willie” beginning Monday.

Jollibee Foods Corporation last Saturday announced it was “holding off” ad placements of its newly-acquired Mang Inasal restaurant chain from “Willing Willie.”

Other multinational giants followed suit. On Tuesday, Procter & Gamble Philippines said it suspended advertising on the show “while the incident is being reviewed and investigated by authorities.”

Del Monte Pacific Ltd. also said it was pulling out sponsorship of the beleaguered primetime game show.

The TV network has since apologized for the episode and installed an internal ombudsman to avoid a repeat of the incident.