ONE ADVERTISER’S RESPONSE TO “THE BOOK OF DANIEL” (Letter quoted)

                Thank you for taking the time to express your concerns about the television program “The Book of Daniel.” I want you to understand how our commercial was placed on this program and why no future commercials will air.

                All of H&R Block’s advertising decisions were made last July, and “The Book of Daniel” was not among the network’s programming at that time.  However, as the network’s programming changed over the following five months and programs were cancelled, the network had to identify a replacement program to carry our commercial.  That replacement program was “The Book of Daniel.” While neither our advertising agency nor H&R Block had the opportunity to review the program before it aired, the written description provided to our advertising agency suggested that it was a primetime drama that fit within our advertising guidelines.  Our advertising agency ran one commercial, and no other commercials are planned.

                H&R Block is an active member of the Family Friendly Programming Forum that helps guide our advertising decisions.  Again, it is now clear that “The Book of Daniel” is not a program that meets our guidelines, and the one commercial aired through what the network calls a “make good” practice to its sponsors when another program is cancelled.  In the future, we will place even more scrutiny on any “make good” offers from the networks.

                H&R Block will continue to develop advertising that is worthy of the 50 years of trust our millions of clients have placed in us.  Our advertising will continue to illustrate that our products and services are offered equally to every consumer.  And we will continue to advertise in a responsible manner.

                Your opinion matters to us, and I thank you for taking the time to share it.

               Respectfully,
               Mark Pylypczuk
               Director, Media Services