Outcry over broadcasters cannibalism stunt

The news that two presenters of Dutch public broadcaster BNN are going eat each other’s flesh on Wednesday’s episode of the new programme Guinea Pigs has sparked an international outcry.

The experiment has been reviled as ‘in the worst possible taste’ and ‘the sickening story of two presenters desperately craving publicity’.

Presenters Valerio Zeno en Dennis Storms reportedly want to find the answer to the question: What does human flesh taste like? A surgeon has removed a small piece of flesh from the buttocks and thigh of each presenter which will be prepared and eaten during the second episode of the new show.

A promotional video for the show posted on the internet has sparked fierce reactions from international media, ranging from ‘a sick stunt’ and ‘the most revolting news of the day’ to ‘a disgusting experiment.‘

This is not the first time that youth broadcaster BNN has caused an outcry. Earlier, Shooting and Swallowing (Spuiten en Slikken), a television show on sex and drugs which proved controversial because of its explicit reporting and an alleged failure to sufficiently warn young people against the use of drugs.

On the Great Donor Show, a terminally ill woman was to select the recipient of her healthy kidney from three kidney patients. The show eventually proved to be a stunt aimed at focussing public interest on organ donation.

The controversial episode of Guinea Pigs (Proefkonijnen) is to be broadcast on Dutch television on 21 December.