Posted on 03/06/2012 5:15:10 PM PST by BobL
Forgive me for starting a vanity thread here, but if the issue is important enough, sometimes comments are not sufficient.
As some of you may know, there is a small army of investors that follow around Rush's sponsors. Basically they apolitical people who know that if Brand A advertises on Rush's show, Brand A's sales will go through the roof. So once Brand A starts advertising, they buy the stock (if it's available) and generally clean up (probably the surest investment strategy in existence - even Rush has talked about it). It is likely these investors that are pulling their money out of Carbonite right now, as their stock tanks. There are probably others that have shorted Carbonite, considering they shot themselves in the foot - by coming out in defense of tyranny. For investors that shorted them today (or yesterday), they would be up at least 10%, in less than two days. But the vast majority of people (including FReepers and Rush Listeners, and myself) do neither. Some of us buy their product, but that's about it.
So what if another company moves in for the kill - perhaps Mozy. I, myself, have never purchased a backup service, but I was getting close to Carbonite, especially given their advertising on Rush's show. However, since this story broke, it appears that Carbonite's product, in addition to their attitude towards Rush, leave something to be desired.
So how would a company move in for the kill - very easy. Buy national air time on Rush's show and STATE IT TO THE WORLD that you are doing this in support of free speech (as well as having a useful product) - and, believe me, Rush would be more than happy to amplify that message. If a company would do that, they would be OVERWHELMED by Rush listeners trying to make a point, and would see their stock go through the roof. Their owner(s) could cash out, probably in week after starting their ads, and never have to worry about working again. Yes, their company would have to put up with the harassment of OWS and Media Matters types, but that is the cost of doing business, and they're easy to deal with if you have a plan for them (i.e., put callers through a screening process before putting them through to humans, or just direct them to the web - not hard; for example, make them give you a real credit card number to set up an account, before putting them on with a live person).
For a huge company like Walmart, I'd say don't bother - too many people from all walks of life use them. But for a small to medium size company, even getting just 1% of Rush's 22,000,000 listeners pretty much sets them up for life. While I pick on Carbonite here, it's only because they are a public company and they have been most vocal in stabbing Rush in the back. There are also mattress companies, flower delivery companies, and (in fact) any other company that could simply explode their sales, by making a very pro-America political statement and advertising on Rush's show.
For the record, I have no investment (or shorting) of Carbonite, Mozy, or any of Rush's other advertisers (that I know of) - and certainly won't be doing it now, after posting this.
......what do you think Senators and Congressmen have been doing with “regulations” they impose on companies since they can “inside trade” with impunity.
Not too hot on that (to say the least), but I have to follow the laws that apply to me.
So what is the size of Limbaugh audience? Something like 20 mil? I bought my Sleep Number bed because of Rush! Wish I had bought the Tempur-Pedic instead...the sleep number is a piece of garbage and now I know why.
“So what is the size of Limbaugh audience? Something like 20 mil? I bought my Sleep Number bed because of Rush! Wish I had bought the Tempur-Pedic instead...the sleep number is a piece of garbage and now I know why.”
Yea, you’re certainly not the first to say that regarding the Sleep Number. We’ll never know what Rush knew about Sleep Number (or Carbonite) - maybe he knew they weren’t so hot, but they paid the bills. Who knows. But one fallout of these politically-motivated cancellations is that people are not only not-buying their products, they are also talking openly about their quality, in some cases - which almost assures that these companies will never see the their glory days repeated (if they manage to even stay in business), no matter how hard they try to back-pedal.
Great idea! Hope it is done. In any case, we have to support Rush. It is bigger than just one man. The enemy is focusing on him, hoping we conservatives will let him go. For the sake of the movement, we must not.
Funny, after months of thinking about my backup options, I was about to go with Carbonite, too. Their advertising on Rush was the difference maker. I am glad they did this before I made the commitment. Would have felt like a fool and would have had to take to the time to “unwind” everything. Wouldn’t want to have all my data with a company so susceptible to lefty-radical pressure either.
I don't actually regret my recent purchases because they need to understand it's real, tangible paying customers they're losing.
This talk of "27 sponsors cancel Limbaugh" is bunk. Many are local, many haven't been heard on Limbaugh in years or ever.
I like your plan.
As far back as I can remember their has been a split between conservative Republicans and Rockefeller Republicans (socialist lit) in the Republican party. They have been with Rush as long as he was with free trade agreements(not treaties) and so on but now the split is wider today then it has been in the past and are now showing their true colors.
My Wife tried it out and didn't care for it.
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.
Oh, I donm’t blame Rush! He promoted them which tells me what fools they are for dropping their advertising.
Yeah!!!
Thanks all. People (including) us forget that WE HAVE THE MONEY, relatively speaking. The vast majority of the protesters are broke because of the student loans they took out to get their worthless degrees. It only makes sense that we throw our weight around.
...and, I think, a lot of use are JUST DYING for a company to stand up and defend Rush - and the first one in will make a killing.
I personally haven’t been real happy with Carbonite myself; having had files corrupted and multiple software issues with their interface. Having just auto-renewed in January, cancelling now would be a net loss to me. I might as well make them store my 70GB + of files for the next 9-10 months, but will be looking into Mozy in the meantime.
Perhaps I’ll just back up a bunch of junk on my carbonite subscription and lock my backup so it takes more server space - considering they don’t give refunds that is my only method of making my subscription count for anything meaningful in this ridiculous mess.
I used the Rush promo code when I bought my Carbonite subscription - having heard about it for months while listening to his show. It should be a fairly easy thing for Carbonite VPs to determine how many people signed up because of the promos/advertising on Rush’s show. Perhaps this was a calculated risk on their part - I assume they didn’t expect their stock to plunge though.
I yanked my auto-renew subscription yesterday (removed my billing info so it can’t auto-renew) - that was my only method of making a statement to them.
Not only that...but I almost pmp when I read a comment on Sleep Numbers Website comment sections that said...
“Fools that you are, don’t you know that the left will not buy your product, it will not fit into their tents”!
I’m curious about his advertising rates.
I’m happy to hear that Life Lock will not be leaving..They refuse to be brought into a lefty campaign to end free speech. The rumor was they were leaving, they are not..
I’m not too proud to live off the crumbs that fall from other’s tables...
Rush has carried a lot of water for the Conservative Movement- putting the best face on the cause in times of despair.
He understands the market forces better than most, and knows where his bread is buttered.
I was wondering if Kim Komando was still hawking carbonite...
She just talked about the issue in a statement. Always heard her advertise carbonite. Hannity does as well...
http://www.komando.com/breaking-news/rush-limbaughs-statements.html
I like Kims show but don’t care for carbonite ...
Good read Bob.... Thanks !
“More important still is the fact that conservationism is dying.”
I certainly don’t believe that. What is happening is that the hippie generation (or baby boomers, if you like) has assumed power and has not at all shed their hatred for this country. The problem is only with us to the extent that it is extremely difficult for ‘good people’ (i.e., conservatives) to comprehend just how evil bad people can be. In our case, they simply want us dead...that simple. But short of killing us (Cambodia approach), jailing us for what we believe will do (Soviet approach), or silencing us by the point of a gun will also do (Western Europe’s approach).
They have about as much love for us (and this country) as the Palestinians have for Jews (and Israel). There is no difference in the level of hatred. But even though Israel knows how much they’re hated (it is kind of difficult to miss with car bombings and decapitations), they still think that some kind of long-term peace agreement can be reached - which is not at all possible.
Our (Republican) leaders are simply unable to comprehend the level of hatred directed at them - that is our problem. The idea that conservatism is dying is not true - it’s just that liberalism has gotten so much more evil over the past few decades, as the hippies have assumed positions of power.
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