Angry Lost Fans Claim False Advertising

By Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/26/2007 4:21:00 AM

It’s no secret that fans of ABC’s Lost have grown increasingly impatient with the show’s creators for ladling mystery upon mystery while tossing them mere scraps of revelation. Now Losties are blaming ABC’s promotions department for stoking those frustrations.

After last week’s installment, angry fans lit up message boards at ABC.com and other online forums complaining that a promo spot for the episode had over-promised when it trumpeted that "answers to three of Lost’s biggest mysteries are finally revealed."

Many agreed that the three "mysteries" alluded to in the promo were hardly central to the supernatural drama about plane-crash survivors that has unfolded ever so slowly over 2½ seasons.

To be sure, ABC and Lost’s creators have attempted to reassure impatient viewers that their questions will be answered—particularly now that ratings have been off since the show returned in a new time slot after a grueling three-month midseason hiatus.

But at The Fuselage, the site sponsored by Lost creator J.J. Abrams, one poster fumed that ABC had "lied to the audience" by promising what the episode failed to deliver and likely alienated many viewers.

In an e-mail statement, ABC Entertainment’s marketing chiefs Mike Benson and Marla Provencio maintained that the "show delivered the answers to the three questions that were posed in the promo, which we believe are questions on our viewers minds.

"We have the utmost respect for Lost viewers," they added. "Our intention is never to alienate, only to entice."