One of the biggest shows on television right now is This Is Us, a fictional story of the life of an American family - the Pearsons. From early on it was apparent that the father in this show, Jack Pearson, was no longer alive. The show jumps periodically from present day to flashbacks of the past, thus allowing us to still have a connection to his character.
The show is in its second season, but the writers had yet to explain why he died so young - that is until Super Bowl Sunday.
The Pearson family are big football fans, particularly of the Pittsburgh Steelers, so it was only fitting that they reveal Jack's death immediately following the big game. This Is Us usually airs on Tuesdays; however, this special episode was an exception.
The episode before the big reveal left viewers on a cliff hanger. It showed Jack cleaning the kitchen before going to bed but failing to turn off the slow cooker, which was an old hand-me-down with some wiring issues that the family had owned for years.
So the last thing viewers saw on Tuesday night was the kitchen engulfing in flames while the family was asleep - a very unsettling sight to see.
Fans were furious.
People took to social media saying that they were scared of their Crock-Pots and suggesting that the slow cooker was responsible for the loss of America's favorite TV dad.
However, the show still hadn't revealed exactly how he died. It turns out, he didn't die in the fire. Rather, he died from cardiac arrest due to smoke inhalation, at the hospital later that night.
Again, this character and storyline is completely made up, but fans took the loss extremely hard.
Though Crock-Pot is simply a brand of slow cookers and not the name of the appliance, that's the name everyone associates with the term "slow cooker." So even though in the show they don't use the brand name, upset fans were still posting on social media, tweeting, and venting about the killer "Crock-Pot."
Obviously there was much needed damage control after this.
So, NBC and Crock-Pot teamed up to create a pre Super Bowl ad, starring Jack in character, using a Crock-Pot before the game.
This is genius, because not only does it save face for Crock-Pot but it also connects to viewers because the message is coming from the fictional victim himself, Jack Pearson.
The actor, Milo Ventimiglia, has also spoken on talk shows and interviews about how he loves Crock-Pots and even has one in his own house. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres he said, "I think there was a lot of misdirected hate at us—at Crock-Pot—as opposed to a faulty slow cooker from the past,” adding that he doesn't even die in the fire.
There is also the trending hashtag #crockpotisinnocent stemming from this PR effort to save the reputation of an innocent brand of appliances. Slow cookers don't have a history of being extremely dangerous or spontaneously combusting.
Though, if you're still worried, don't do away with your Crock-Pot, just unplug it.
Sources
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/23/entertainment/this-is-us-jack-cause-of-death-revealed/index.html
www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/news/a47731/this-is-us-crock-pot/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/02/06/us-crock-pot-fire-fires-death-slow-cooker/311667002/
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/02/this-is-us-jacks-death-crock-pot-slow-cooker-milo-ventimiglia