Barbara Walters, soup-shill

—By Vince Beiser

| Fri Dec. 1, 2000 1:00 AM PST

Apparently having decided that separating commercials from programs just doesn't leave enough time for ads, ABC has simply converted "The View," a mid-morning talk show hosted by Barbara Walters, into a paid infomercial for Campbell's soup, according to FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN REPORTING.

Recent Must Reads

11/30 - Skiing green

11/29 - Cheney's ties to Iraq

11/28 - Safe sex for plants

11/25 - The triumph of 'wealth porn'

"Didn't we grow up ... eating Campbell's Soup?" Walters asks her colleagues on one of the eight segments sponsored by Campell's -- to a rousing response of "M'm! M'm! Good!" This, evidently, is fulfillment of the producers' promise to Campbell's that "hosts would try to weave a soup message into their regular on-air banter."

Advertise on MotherJones.com

New heights of shamelessness? Not for ABC. This is the network, FAIR reminds us, that assigned Leonardo DiCaprio to interview President Clinton about environmental issues, and that featured the Pets.com sock-puppet as a guest on "Good Morning America" shortly after ABC's parent, Disney, bought a stake in the late, unlamented e-tailer.

Get Mother Jones by Email - Free. Like what you're reading? Get the best of MoJo three times a week.

Photo Essays + Slideshows

Returning from Iraq, the Damage Done

It's easy to send soldiers off to war. It's harder to face them when they come home.

Hot Town, Summer in the City

Bronx Riviera feeling dirty and gritty.

Can You Spot the Future Americans?

A mosaic of immigrant ID photos.

Chernobyl, 25 Years On

Radiation checkpoints. Contaminated mushrooms. A quarter century after the meltdown, meet the families who chose to stay.

See All