Duck Dynasty - Crackers from Hell

There is a lot of controversy right now about the A&E show Duck Dynasty because one of the characters said some stuff a number of people believed to be inflammatory.  I've read what he said and it's not the kindest thing he could have said, but there are other people out there who've had worse turds fall out of their mouths.  This is the United States and we are guaranteed freedom of speech.  This means even a Judgmental, Crazy Christian can spout shit.  Now that the frenzy seems to have reached its peak, I have to wonder just how much of this PR extravaganza was orchestrated by the A&E Television network.

I have to say I have never seen the show for two reason:  I don't like reality TV, and I despise reality TV which makes celebrities out of white trash.  Just because the Robertson family has a million dollar duck call business doesn't mean they're not white trash.  Money has nothing to do with it.  An associate of mine has told me the show is so popular because the Robertson's are so stupid.  Her comment to me was "you don't even need to watch it, just listen to them talk to find yourself laughing hysterically."  Which brings me back to the PR extravaganza thing.  From what I've read, the executives at A&E television knew that Phil (?) Robertson was a Judgmental, Crazy Christian simply from his conversations on the set.  So why would they arrange for him to have an interview with GQ unless they were hoping he would open his mouth and shit would fly out.  Evidently, there was a representative from A&E present, most likely to see which juicy tidbits could be blown up out of proportion.

Crackers from Hell



Instead of merely putting out a disclaimer about this cracker's opinions, A&E made a big, public announcement that he would not be back on the show, ever.  He was fired because of his opinions.  At this point the bait was set, all they had to do was wait for the media and "socially conscious" America to jump into the trap...and they did.  Ratings went through the roof.  This little PR stunt went global as everybody now wanted to watch Duck Dynasty.  Was this extravaganza minutely detailed by A&E?  I don't think so, however I do believe there was some hopeful anticipation going into the interview.  All they needed was one little nugget and this Cracker from Hell gave it to them and because of it a lot of people are going to the bank.