ABC scraps plans for 'V' skywriting campaign

ABC has scrapped its ambitious plan to cover the skies of major cities with giant red "V"s to promote the Nov. 3 debut of its alien invasion drama.

The network was readying to employ skywriters to promote the show above 26 U.S. landmarks -- such as the Statue of Liberty, Fenway Park and Santa Monica Pier.

After THR broke the marketing story, Washington Post reporter Lisa de Moraes wrote a column estimating the amount of pollution the skywriting campaign would cause (800 grams of lead, three tons of CO2, etc), and noted ABC's parent company Disney had recently promised to cut its fuel emissions in half by 2012.

Giant red "V"s in the sky might have also freaked a few people out.

An ABC spokesperson said network has simply decided to spend its money in other ways.

Since posting the first draft of this update, fans have expressed dismay that ABC is not going through with the stunt which, at the very least, was a clever idea that would have garnered the show plenty of attention.

UPDATE: One reader's Photoshop mock up...