"If it's on the internets, it must be true."Their program on Discovery Channel has garnered them a reputation as guardians of truth, but there are some forces even the MythBusters can't hope to bring down; sponsors and their lawyers.-Adam Savage of MythBusters
In 2007, the makers of MythBusters were planning an episode which dealt with industry claims about the security if RFID (radio frequency identification) chips, particularly the ones in credit cards. Word of this leaked to credit card companies and, led by Texas Instruments (a top RFID maker), they approached Discovery Communications threatening to pull their ads and launch a lawsuit if the episode aired.
Naturally, a controversy kept in the dark like this is bound to have conflicting versions of events. Texas Instruments claims that MythBusters contacted them for assistance and that TI was in support of the project from the beginning, though how co-host Adam Savage has gone on the record as describing the show and its producer as being "way, way out-gunned" by TI and the credit companies, suggesting that the companies were adamant about guarding facts about the chips' level of vulnerability to hackers.
Advertisers' influence on media content is a long story which can basically be summed up in two words: "Money talks". Next time, we'll be looking at how advertisers censor news programs and purchase favorable coverage.
