Fox Runs Promos for Chris Harrison’s The Vow on ABC as They Torch The Bachelor Cease and Desist Letter

Promos for the Fox Nation dating show The Vow have begun airing and they’ll soon be making their way to ABC airwaves, following a cease-and-desist over accusations of similarities to The Bachelor.

Advertisements for The Vow, which is hosted by ex-Bachelor host Chris Harrison, will make their way to approximately a dozen ABC station markets, Mediaite learned through someone with knowledge of the plan. Those ABC ads will be dropping the week of The Vow’s premiere (November 11), while Fox is busy pushing the show now.

The ads are expected to be in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and elsewhere. They could be running in key primetime slots, like during hit ABC shows like Grey’s Anatomy.

In a cease-and-desist letter, Ahassim Rashid, VP and intellectual property counsel for Warner Bros Entertainment, which owns The Bachelor, accused the makers of The Vow of using unauthorized IP material.

A promo for The Vow features rose petals at the end. Rose petals have been a signature of The Bachelor, but Fox has no plans to ditch them in their ads.

The letter also noted issues with the use of the words “the bachelor” in the advertisement and a mansion that Warner feels is “meant to evoke the iconic Bachelor Mansion.”

“Without having seen the Series itself, we cannot comment on it and reserve all rights in connection therewith. To be clear, though, we have no objection to Fox and Lionsgate releasing a dating show hosted by Chris Harrison in and of itself. But thus far, Fox and Lionsgate have promoted the Series entirely on the back of the Franchise, not on its own merits,” the letter reads.

Fox Nation pushed back on these claims, accusing Warner of targeting Harrison in a “vindictive” manner.

Fox said:

“Warner Bros. does not allege, nor could you, that The Vow copies any scenes from The Bachelor itself. You base your putative copyright claim instead on an image of falling rose petals that appear against a black background,” Fox Nation said, noting the rose petals have long been associated with other properties.

Their statement continued:

Even assuming you have any claim at all in the rose petals motif—which you plainly do not—FOX Nation’s use qualifies as a fair one under the copyright laws because the trailer subverts and parodies typical dating shows. The falling petals at the start of the trailer set up the concluding scenes where Mr. Harrison tosses a rose on the ground and contemplates stepping on it as he says, “Roses fade. True love lasts forever”—a gesture that signals he has moved on from his previous turn as host of The Bachelor and is offering “a new series about finding true love.

Harrison hosted The Bachelor for nearly two decades. He announced in 2021 that he was leaving the show. The move came as he was embroiled in controversy after he defended Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, who herself was facing backlash over photos of her in attendance at an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity formal back in 2018. She was also accused of racially insensitive behavior on social media, such as liking images containing the Confederate flag.

Harrison said at the time that people going after Kickconnell should have “a little grace, a little understanding, a little compassion… this judge, jury, executioner thing where people are just tearing this girl’s life apart [is wrong].”

The Vow finds Harrison back in front of the camera. The dating series will focus on 30-year-old Jace Cates and 10 competing woman, all looking for love and marriage.

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