TV station snubs ‘Dunder Mifflin’ ad
Published 2:40 pm Saturday, February 23, 2013
SCRANTON, Pa. — A northeastern Pennsylvania TV station is refusing to run a commercial for the real-life Dunder Mifflin paper brand.
Quill.com produces a line of paper products inspired by the fictional company at the center of “The Office,” the long-running NBC comedy set in Scranton.
Quill had planned to run an ad on WNEP-TV, the ABC affiliate, during this Sunday’s Oscars telecast. But WNEP declined to air the spot.
Paul Bessinger works for Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Quill, a division of Staples. He tells The Times-Tribune of Scranton the spot was apparently declined because “The Office” airs on a rival network.
Michael Last at WNEP declined to comment.
The ad will air instead on another ABC affiliate, in Utica, N.Y. Like Scranton, Utica is home to a Dunder Mifflin branch on “The Office.”