Project Runway returns this Wednesday night, but you
wouldn't know it from any major advertising for the show. EW thinks it knows why:
But do people even know to tune in? In past years, the lead-up to a new cycle of Runway came with an onslaught of publicity: constant on-air promos, posters and billboards every which way you turn, and print ads galore. But this time, there's been a noticeable dearth of promotion for Bravo's No. 1 show. Sure, there have been television commercials and the occasional print announcement, but the usual plastering of New York City buses and subways, for instance, has been suspiciously absent.
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Some people suspect that Bravo is trying to sabotage the show before it heads to Lifetime next season -- a way of getting back at producer Harvey Weinstein for taking away their banner hit. A source at Bravo called that theory "ridiculous," and added, "Why wouldn't we want Runway to do well on our network?"
Bravo says it's just trying to preserve the anonymity of the contestants, but that makes no sense. They could just do big billboards with Heidi and Time. Or the past winners. Or the past villains and ask "who will be the contestant you'll love to hate?" There are a million ways to promote the show without revealing who the contestants are. Billboards or not, we'll be tuning in Wednesday night.
