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Sponsor quits The Circle

Swisse ends its sponsorship of The Circle -but is the backlash going overboard?

Ok, so it hasn’t been a great week for The Circle.

Yumi Stynes and George Negus’ comments about Victoria Cross hero Ben Roberts-Smith were misplaced.

But they’ve apologised and he has accepted them. So is it really necessary for a sponsor to jump ship?

On their Facebook site, vitamin company Swisse says, “Thank you to each and every one of you for contacting Swisse.

“We have spoken directly with Network TEN and have ended our association with The Circle.

Seriously? Anyone would think there was Sandilands-style malice in Stynes’ comment.

Is it really cause to call for the show to be axed, as the Herald Sun suggests?

The Circle‘s problems are more significant than one Live TV blunder, and that is the show’s performance since Chrissie Swan and Denise Drysdale left the show. Maybe if they had been present the team might have corrected their error the moment it happened, instead of getting carried away with the moment.

Delays over their replacement aren’t reassuring.

Maybe Swisse isn’t happy with the numbers and was looking for an exit.

A little perspective wouldn’t go astray, people…

24 Responses

  1. FFS… grow up Australia! So Yumi and George made an ill timed joke about a super buff guy in a swimming pool… big flamin’ deal! It was the Seven Network who really are to blame for objectifying Ben Roberts-Smith in the first place. Was it really necessary to have shots of him in his swimwear… no… but I’m sure there were plenty of extra eyes tuning in to Sunday Night that week for a good ol’ perve.

    A massive overreaction for something that those involved have long moved on from… time for Australia to do the same…

  2. Como hotel, Holden, big 4 and Mitsubishi are all reveiwing their agreements with the circle and/or stynes. A lot of people are pissed about what Negus and Stynes said. Someone should remind those angry people about wha tpickering said a few months ago. I bet he is sweating hoping noone remembers.

  3. I’m glad the sponsors have pulled out….I just hope that the show is snubbed by the viewers so that it gets the ax!! I never want to see any of those involved in this debarcle employed elsewhere in the televison circle…..(sorry no pun intended!)

  4. Well I feel it is that Swisse have a right to move out if they see that in some way that it has damaged the brand. But the fact is that they were always going to go to the Mornings on 9 as it is where one of the people that has advertised for them for a fair while is hosting which is Sonia Kruger they just need to have a push along which they did get so I feel that no Laws have been Broken.
    Channel 9 may have also told Swisse about them wanting to get one of there Ambassadors to front the show to replace Kerri-Ann Kennelly which would make the thinking that last year Swisse where already contemplating when to drop The Circle which in affect since Mornings has come on they have been demoted back to 3rd, The Circle in my books is a dead show walking with nothing to replace it.
    I feel that since Nick Falloon decided to play with it, it made rating and money which is isn’t currently making.

  5. I am gobsmacked by Swisse. Ben Robert_Smith accepted their apology. Its’s just an Aussie thing to take the P*ss out of each other. Just because Ben is a war hero doesn’t mean he has no sense of humour. If it was said about a beefy rugby player or a polititian we all would of cracked up. Yumi is a very interesting person. When the Circle first stated i remember her saying she hitchhiked around australia by herself. A pretty gutsy effort for a female Japanese Austalian. Also a single mum. Lots of people have been saying who is this person ,never heard of her, well i think she is one of the more interesting people ever on Oz TV.

  6. Whilst I agree with all previous comments (for the most part) I find it really annoying that Yumi did this. Women are often objectified re their looks and Yumi would be one of the first to make comment on it, yet she does the same thing here over a great looking male (regardless of who he is) thinking it clever…witty… or funny.
    I’m so disappointed.
    George is guilty of being a buffoon and trying to mix it with Gen Y. Both should have known better, hopefully are better.
    Time will tell.

  7. Yes this is going way over the top. Nice pick up with the Sonia Kruger/Swisse link too. Remember also that the new PR man for Swisse is Mitch Catlin, who used to engineer all the Myer/Jennifer Hawkins tiffs in the media to keep those brands in focus.

  8. Swisse don’t wish to be associated with someone who made a thoughtless passing remark, the subject of which who has accepted the apologies, but are apparently very happy to be seen with a vacuous nobody like Kim Kardashian. I’m even less likely to purchase their unnecessary and way overpriced vitamins now.

    Andrew, I think you make a salient point. The Yumi Stynes faux pas is just a smokescreen for Swisse to justify their exit from an under-performing program.

  9. Sonia Kruger’s run of gaffes over the years – oh wait that’s right Swisse you chose/continue to work with her as a result of them.

    David I agree with your comments 110%. This has got way out of hand (Yes Sunrise, you would be one of the main culprits with your continued tacky way ‘over the top’ segment(s) you ran with two days after the event – it was old news by then).

    With the departure of Chrissie & Denise, The Circle is not on my radar, and until they find a regular host to fill one of the spots I won’t be tuning in.

    An no doubt Swisse felt much the same about the smaller numbers the show now attracts .

  10. The Circle probably wouldn’t miss Swisse’s sponsorship too much given that their main on-screen spokesperson Sonia Kruger now hosts a rival show on another channel 🙂

  11. I find Swisse over advertise. There ads annoy me. I won’t buy the brand. I’m sure there is a vitamin to make you feel better from watching The Circle ;o)

  12. I thought the comments were over the line – but they were nowhere as bad as the stuff that comes out of the likes of Kyle Sandilands, Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt.

    They’ve apologised, the victim has accepted them – and that should be the end of the matter.

    Swisse has plenty of other shows that it can screen their ads ad nauseaum – so dropping The Circle is nothing to them.

  13. This is going overboard – they have apologised, have been accepted and people have moved on.

    Was there malice? No. Was it stupid? Yes. Was it unforgivable? No. Should Yumi and Negus learn from it, and grow up? Yes.

    Should it now be held against them forever and a day?

    No.

    If Swisse wants to end association with the show because of ratings and poor performance; then be honest and say so.

    Trying to jump on an already passed bandwagon is stupid, and shows bad decision making.

  14. Andrew Bolt says the most horrible things about the PM and the Labor Party , and his comments are alot nastier and thought out in advance, and yet his show still airs

  15. For swisse it’s wouldn’t have really been a matter of right or wrong. It’s what people wanted them to do. They will be rewarded with lots of good press for this.

    I think Yumi was genuinely sorry, it was an honest mistake. George on the other hand I think still has a lot to say for himself. His apology was shocking, making it all about himself. Since he isn’t a regular on The Circle I do feel for them having to deal with the damage he did while George moves on.

  16. One only has to read all the comments and opinions of your contributors and many others on Twitter and Facebook etc.David to fully realise whether this dog of a show should or should not be axed. I for one have put what was said in perspective and can only agree with the sponsor dumping this hardly watched piece of trash.

    I agree that the main reason for quitting was more than likely the program’s non existent ratings, but the insincere and half hearted excuse for an apology would also have contributed.

    One would think by now that Networks should know that hiring talentless bimbos (ie.Male and Female) is not the way to go.

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