ABC is refusing to air the trailer for “Our Idiot Brother.”
In a memo to the film’s producer, the Weinstein Co., ABC wrote:
“Please remove the visual of the exchange of what is assumed to be drugs.
“Please remove the visual of the character using the juice box to depict urination,” and “Please remove the references to getting high and smoking.”
The ad has been airing on other networks.
The ad includes clips of star Paul Rudd’s character pretending to pee on a trampoline and twice telling his parole officer he had smoked pot with a neighbor kid.
Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who produced the comedy, fell out with Disney — which owns ABC — in 2005 when they were forced out of Miramax, a film company which they owned jointly.
Yesterday, the Weinsteins quickly posted a copy of the offending ad on YouTube for people to see for themselves.
“The ad is already airing in its current form on other broadcast and cable networks,” they said in a prepared statement.
For its part, ABC said it has already run several spots for “Our Idiot Brother,” but would not air this particular trailer because it “violated our long-established ad guidelines.