Business Puts Pressure on Chief Teabagger Beck
From a Color of Change press release:
Twenty companies specifically requesting that their ads not show up on the antipatriotic teabagger Glenn Beck's TV show, where he advocates rebellion against the government and has called President Obama a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture." I'd say that's significant.
Sure, he has the freedom to say what he says. Ironically it is not the US government that he despises cracking down on him, but market pressure.
OAKLAND, Calif.—Eight more Glenn Beck advertisers, including Wal-Mart – the world’s largest retailer – have confirmed to ColorOfChange.org that they pulled their ads from the controversial Fox News Channel broadcaster’s eponymous show. Allergan (maker of Restasis), Ally Bank (a unit of GMAC Financial Services), Best Buy, Broadview Security, CVS, Re-Bath, Travelocity and Wal-Mart join the dozen other companies who previously distanced themselves from Beck.
Twenty companies have pulled their ads from Beck’s show in just the last two weeks. The moves come after the Fox News host called President Obama a “racist” who “has a deep-seated hatred for white people” during an appearance on Fox & Friends. Previous companies who pulled their ads include ConAgra, GEICO, Lawyers.com, Men’s Wearhouse, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, RadioShack, Roche, SC Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Sargento, and State Farm Insurance.
“We are heartened to see so many corporate citizens step up in support of our campaign against Glenn Beck,” said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. “Their action sends a clear a message to Glenn Beck: Broadcasters shouldn’t abuse the privilege they enjoy by spewing dangerous and racially charged hate language over the air. No matter their political affiliation, hate language doesn’t belong in our national dialogue.” Eight More Companies Decide to Pull Ads from Glenn Beck; Twenty Companies Have Now Pulled Advertising
Twenty companies specifically requesting that their ads not show up on the antipatriotic teabagger Glenn Beck's TV show, where he advocates rebellion against the government and has called President Obama a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture." I'd say that's significant.
Sure, he has the freedom to say what he says. Ironically it is not the US government that he despises cracking down on him, but market pressure.
posted by JimK at 11:05 AM
6 Comments:
I don't think about so.....
Since Obama went out and did his own town hall meeting, his popularity has collapsed.
The most liberal outlier of polls, MSNBC, home of Chris Matthews, whose loudmouth show is watched by a fraction of the numbers who flock to more moderate news talk shows, like Bill O'Reiily's, is reporting this morning that Sir BO's approval rating has dropped to about half the country, echoing the Ramussen report of last week.
Worse is health care, where only 40% of voters approve of Sir BO's activities.
Earth to Barry: most Americans are concerned about the cost of health care. They thought you were going to do something about that and they now realize that, after the smoke clears, you intend to raise their taxes to pay for free insurance for 50 million.
They think they pay enough already.
Do yourself a favor: get behind malpractice reform and the elimination of employes from the decision-making process of selecting an insurance company.
You might save your presidency yet.
Oh brother, Anon. You addressed President Obama as if you think he reads your comments here.
< eye roll >
hey, anon-B:
wink-wink
"I'm delighted to let you know that we received confirmation today that Verizon Wireless is no longer advertising on the Glenn Beck show.
ColorOfChange.org has done amazing work to bring national awareness to Beck's race-baiting commentary on FOX News Channel. In the last few weeks, over 20 companies including Wal-Mart, CVS, Best Buy, and Travelocity have confirmed with ColorOfChange.org that they have ceased advertising on the show or placed Glenn Beck's program on a "do not air" list.
It was on July 28 that Glenn Beck declared on FOX News Channel: "This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people ... this guy is, I believe, a racist."
The response of corporate advertisers distancing themselves from Beck's despicable remarks is encouraging. But these baseless, racist and increasingly dangerous attacks also reveal just how far the right-wing media machine will go to try and stop our movement for change.
Thank you for working for a better world.
CREDO Action"
NEW YORK — Glenn Beck returns to Fox News Channel after a vacation on Monday with fewer companies willing to advertise on his show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling President Barack Obama a racist.
A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Walmart, CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago.
While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows.
The Clorox Co., a former Beck advertiser, now says that "we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts." The maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that is has decided not to advertise on political talk shows.
The shows present a dilemma for advertisers, who usually like a "safe" environment for their messages. The Olbermanns, Hannitys, O'Reillys, Maddows and Becks of the TV world are more likely to say something that will anger a viewer, who might take it out on sponsors.
They also host the most-watched programs on their networks.
"This is a good illustration of that conundrum," said Rich Hallabran, spokesman for UPS Stores, which he said has temporarily halted buying ads on Fox News Channel as a whole.
Beck can bring the eyeballs. With the health care debate raising political temperatures, his show had its biggest week ever right before his vacation, averaging 2.4 million viewers each day, according to Nielsen Media Research.
He was actually on another Fox show July 28 when he referred to Obama as a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." The network immediately distanced itself from Beck's statement, but Beck didn't. He used his radio show the next day to explain why he believed that. He would not comment for this article, spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said.
ColorofChange.org quickly targeted companies whose ads had appeared during Beck's show, telling them what he had said and seeking a commitment to drop him. The goal is to make Beck a liability, said James Rucker, the organization's executive director.
"They have a toxic asset," Rucker said. "They can either clean it up or get rid of it."
It's not immediately clear how many of the companies actually knew they were advertising on Beck's show. Sometimes commercial time is chosen for a specific show, but often it is bought on a rotation basis, meaning the network sprinkles the ads throughout the day on its own schedule. Sometimes ads appear by mistake; Best Buy said it bought commercial time for earlier in the day, and one of its ads unexpectedly appeared in Beck's show.
One company, CVS Caremark, said it advertises on Fox but hadn't said anything about Beck. Now it has told its advertising agency to inform Fox that it wanted no commercials on Beck.
"We support vigorous debate, especially around policy issues that affect millions of Americans, but we expect it to be informed, inclusive and respectful," said spokeswoman Carolyn Castel.
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