Another sign of economic woes: The Oscars

MediaWeek reports that L’Oréal Paris has pulled ad dollars for this year’s Academy Awards television special slated for this Sunday, February 22nd:

Besides losing a backer with deep pockets — since 2004, L’Oréal’s Academy Awards spend has added up to a cool $40.9 million, per TNS Media Intelligence — ABC is heading into the week with a significant chunk of unsold inventory. While the network would not comment on how many avails it had on its hands, as of Feb. 13, media buyers estimated that ABC still needed to move 6–8 spots, or about 12 percent of the time that would constitute a sellout.

And what about the red carpet scene Sunday night? Will Hwood stars tone down glamor and glitz to show they’re not tone deaf to economic woes of the masses?

All of which makes me wonder if one reason Slumdog Millionaire has connected with American moviegoers is its backdrop of poverty, matching up in a way with our current recession.