STATESIDE

Time Warner isn't the only media company in trouble with the right. Unilever has been threatened with a consumer boycott organised by the Rev Don Wildmon at the American Family Association.

It would be easy to laugh at Wildmon were it not for his success. Both Burger King and K-Mart Stores suffered after the AFA declared them immoral. The campaign against the retailer K-Mart began over four years ago and K-Mart's revenues have declined every year since.

"Once we start a boycott, it's hard to stop," Wildmon boasts. "The effects can last for generations."

Unilever has been targeted because it supports the ABC TV hit NYPD Blue. "Unilever's commercials are shown throughout the programme," complains Wildmon. "NYPD Blue is a pro-homosexual show which promotes decadence, depravity, teenage pregnancies and random violence. We asked Unilever to drop the show many times before we resorted to a boycott."

A Unilever spokesman in New York said the AFA threats will not change its advertising policies.