Mantis, a provider of contextual advertising solutions with built-in brand safety and suitability, has revealed data highlighting that 64 per cent of articles covering The Celebrity Traitors (published and analysed across the Mantis network, between October 8th – 27th ) are being flagged as unsafe for advertising by these outdated tools.

This is due to the articles including words or phrases such as: murder, trio’s first victim, murder their fellow contestants, Claudia Winkleman’s murder mystery gameshow, and scary incident. While this wording is essential for reporting on the game show, traditional blocklist tools aren’t sophisticated enough to detect the context, suitability, and positive or neutral sentiment of articles written about entertainment events like this.

When using Mantis’ brand safety, suitability, and sentiment targeting tools, only 31 per cent of the same content was blocked, providing nearly double (92 per cent) the opportunities for brands to reach highly engaged audiences on premium publisher sites.

The success of The Traitors has been difficult to ignore since its launch in 2022. The 2025 season finale earlier this year drew in 7.4 million viewers, an increase of 0.5 million on the previous year. The celebrity version, launched in October 2025, has been even more successful, with a reported average of 14 million viewers per episode so far. With the series airing on BBC One, there aren’t any direct advertising opportunities on the channel; however, the show’s popularity has turned into a potentially lucrative opportunity for brands, with consumer appetite for collabs, related purchases, and spin-off cross-channel content. Recent Google Trend reports show that searches for content about contestants have been leaping.

“When a TV show turns into a shared cultural moment, consumers engage with content to read about the latest updates, outfit ideas, and contestants’ life stories. For advertisers looking to take advantage of the event that’s grabbing attention, premium publishers’ articles covering The Celebrity Traitors are an optimal way to target engaged audiences,” commented Mariana Carvalho-Jones, Digital Development Lead, Mantis & Reach. “However, as we so often see with coverage of key cultural moments, the reliance on outdated brand safety blocklist tools is betraying brands by preventing their campaigns from reaching many readers.”

“With the next civilian series of The Traitors expected to air in early 2026, advertisers should be planning ahead. For a show like The Traitors, where ‘murder’ is a key theme, advertisers need tools that can identify where this is being used in the context of entertainment, with a positive sentiment. They need tools with a nuanced understanding to distinguish between sensitive topics in different contexts, which determine true brand safety and suitability,” added Carvalho-Jones.

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Categories: Articles, Content, Research

Tags: advertising, google, mantis, traitors