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By Bridget Byrne
Toyota is peeling away from Nip/Tuck.
Pressured by the self-proclaimed decency mavens at the Parents Television Council, the auto company has pulled all its advertising from the FX series about the ethically fraught personal and private lives of a couple of Miami plastic surgeons.


The PTC trumpeted Toyota's pull-out on its Website, saying the auto maker wrote a letter last week to PTC boss L. Brent Bozell III "indicating the company is pulling their advertising from the ultra-raunchy FX show Nip/Tuck.


"Toyota's letter indicated that while Toyota seeks out 'edgier' programming to reach a younger demographic, a review of the content on Nip/Tuck led them to pull out of all remaining episodes. The PTC applauds Toyota for this responsible decision."


Toyota spokeswoman Nancy Hubbell tells the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the story, that the carmaker's decision was based on several factors, including the show's content. She adds that the decision was part of a broader reevaluation of Toyota's advertising strategy.


FX declined to comment on the Toyota defection. But network spokesman John Solberg did tell the Los Angeles Times that "the show is sold out for the season at one of the highest advertiser rates in all of cable."


While Toyota didn't specifically cite the PTC factor in its withdrawal, the watchdog group has targeted "hundreds" of Nip/Tuck advertisers via letter-writing campaigns.


"Without question, Nip/Tuck is one of the most sexually explicit, profane, and violent television programs in the history of American television, and it's about to get worse," the PTC says on its Website. "We need your immediate help to send a loud-and-clear message to the sponsors who are paying to bring this salacious material into our homes. The FX network and the series creator are on a mission to obliterate every remaining taboo for television, and they don't care how many young minds they harm in the process."


Tim Winter, executive director of the Los Angeles-based group, tells the Times that "dozens" of the advertisers contacted "have responded by no longer sponsoring shows or letting us know that they won't continue their sponsorship in the future."


Last year, Ben & Jerry's and Gateway were among major advertisers to pull Nip/Tuck commercials, but neither company offered an explanation why.


The so-called "disturbingly perfect drama" is admittedly not family-friendly fare. Creator Ryan Murphy has described the explicitly brutal depiction of plastic surgery as deliberately "thought provocative." And layers of flesh are not just on view in the operating room as the morally challenged doctors, Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) and Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) mix and match with numerous women, including Sean's ex-wife, Julia (Joely Richardson).


Back when the series began in 2003, Peter Liguori, (at the time FX's president and CEO, now Fox network's entertainment chief) addressed the issue of advertiser fear. Asked whether sponsors would pull out as they did with FX's police drama The Shield, another PTC target, Liguori said that advertisers had been fully exposed to the tone and content of Nip/Tuck before choosing to sign on.


"Adults buy products. And they [advertisers] can advertise on adult-like shows. And as long as we're handling it responsibly, scheduling it correctly, putting on viewer discretions, and frankly, getting the word out, publicizing this is a bit more of adult content...[that] protects everyone along the line," he said at the time.


Now in its third season, Nip/Tuck has been averaging 2.8 million viewers in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, and ranks among the most watched shows on basic cable.

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