By Shelley Marmor

The Central Florida Future
University of Central Florida

May 21, 2003 - While some viewers may question the authenticity of today's reality television programs, Brett Radmin has decided to actively boycott two shows in particular because of the false images he believes they portray.

Radmin - co-founder of Greek101.com, a New York-based company that sells merchandise to Greek organizations throughout the nation - has decided to sever ties with MTV after several people complained that the company's involvement with "Fraternity Life" supports an unrealistic depiction of Greek life.

Radmin's company initially struck an "unofficial product placement" deal with MTV prior to the filming of "Sorority Life" in December 2001. Radmin said the deal consisted of Greek101.com sending merchandise with Greek letters and the company's web address to MTV producers who distributed the merchandise to the pledges on the show.

Entering into the unofficial deal with MTV before the first season of "Sorority Life" seemed like a natural fit for the company, said Radmin, who researched the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi sorority that "Sorority Life" filmed last year in its first Greek reality show.

The sorority had the highest GPA on the University of California Davis campus, he said.

However, about halfway through this season's "Fraternity Life," filmed at the State University of New York Buffalo, Radmin says he is now receiving negative feedback about his company's involvement with MTV's show that claims to portray an accurate profile of the university's Sigma Chi Omega pledges.

In particular, Radmin said MTV focuses on negative aspects of Greek life, such as underage drinking and fraternity brothers humiliating pledges by demanding them to do push-ups and clean their fraternity house.

MTV only shows about 5 percent of what really goes on in fraternities and sororities on the shows, he said.

"They are better institutions than the shows are portraying," Radmin said. "Overall, I just realized after the second or third week that we shouldn't have any involvement in the show. It's disconnected from our mission and what we do."

While Radmin has convinced MTV to remove his company's name and logo from the credit sequences at the end of the show, Greek101.com's image will still appear on the show advertised on most of the apparel the pledges wear.

Since Radmin entered into an agreement with MTV voluntarily, he has only one option if he wants his company's name taken off the show - pay the re-editing costs of blurring their logo off the apparel.

Both "Fraternity Life" and "Sorority Life 2" have also replaced the space where Greek101.com's name used to appear in the credits with an anti-hazing organization's logo at Radmin's request.

Kevan Stone - owner of Greek Unique at UCF, a store similar to Greek101.com - believes Radmin has made the right decision to sever ties with MTV.

As a member and former president of Kappa Sigma fraternity at UCF, Stone stresses the behaviors depicted on "Fraternity Life" don't hold true within his fraternity.

"I would have been thrown in jail if I had my pledges doing that," he said.

While Radmin said the Greek community has been in support of their decision, Jason Malley, an Alpha Epsilon Pi brother at UCF, says Greek101.com's decision will likely hurt them financially.

"The company should sponsor [MTV] because they need to make money," Malley, 22, said.

Profitable or not, Radmin believes his decision is a wise one.

"It is a necessary step because I strongly support Greeks, and fraternities and sororities produce good people," he said.

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