Posted on 08/14/2009 3:59:46 PM PDT by pissant
Glenn Beck has lost advertisers on his TV show after calling President Obama "a racist" in the context of the Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy. The pressure on advertisers has become a politically charged debate about the right to free speech, censorship and what constitutes hate speech. Conservatives are questioning if the campaign against Beck is connected to the White House staff.
The corporate sponsors are responding to the African-American online political coalition ColorOfChange.org, which launched a campaign two weeks ago, urging companies to stop advertising on "The Glenn Beck Program."
Color of Change, in a press release Thursday, said that the "target companies" which have responded to its campaign to pull ads from Beck's show are: ConAgra (maker of Healthy Choice products), Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, RadioShack, Men's Wearhouse, State Farm, Sargento, Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, SC Johnson and GEICO.
Fox News Channel has said that the advertisers have shifted their ads to different time slots so the campaign is not affecting revenue. Beck's 5 p.m. show is Fox News' third-highest rated, with over 2 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
(Excerpt) Read more at politicsdaily.com ...
**Wouldn’t THAT be against the law?**
- - - - -
Not sure ... perhaps.
But the arrogant 0b0z0 doesn’t care about that,
methinks!
Indeed. Freepers are now calling up GEICO and cancelling policies. And that leftist organization is lying through its teeth - didn’t SC Johnson already issue a statement saying it did not drop its advertising from Glenn Beck.
I wouldn’t mind, but the so-called “racist” comment was a month ago. Do these nitwits really believe Fox is going to yank Glenn from the air when he’s the highest rated cable news show in his time slot?
I’m with the people that say the WH has it’s fine Kenyan hand in this one —
This will only increase Beck’s popularity and ratings. The Left is so stupid. Every time that they attack a conservative, his ratings go up. Let’s hope that more lefties will attack him.
"Government Employees Insurance Company August 13, 2009
Dear XXXXX:
Dear GEICO Policyholder: Thank you, first of all for your business and also for your interest in this matter. This week we took action to move our marketing messages from the Glenn Beck show and you are wondering why. Well you deserve an answer. If the inflammatory nature of the comments on a program overshadows our message and causes GEICO to be drawn into a national debate, we are likely to reconsider where we place our marketing messages, which is what we did. GEICO delivers very important messages through its major marketing campaigns: we?re saving customers? dollars, we?re easy to do business with, we?re looking out for our policyholders. That?s what we hope the public hears and sees and focuses on. As a company, we do not take positions on controversial issues. As an advertiser, while a national debate on issues can be healthy and appropriate, we don?t see ourselves in the role of taking part in those debates. Our business is auto insurance. We want to bring people value and we attempt to reach large audiences with that message. It is of little benefit to us if a program gets so much attention that our message is drowned out. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving your insurance needs for years to come. GEICO Corporate Communications"
Make of it what you will....
Conservatives have questioned Color of Change's motives. The co-founder of Color of Change is Van Jones,who was appointed by Obama in May as the special adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Jones is listed on ColorofChange.org as: "Former Staff, Van Jones (Co-founder, inactive)."
Hmmmmmmm! ...
I personally spoke to a Geico rep today. I told him my opinion of their decision to dump Beck, I did not give him time to reply. I also contacted Sargento today, a WI based company and I live in WI. I left my email addy, phone # and address. Government harassment cannot be allowed to stand.
I just switched back to geico 4 months ago. Will call them tomorrow to cancel.
They have done the bidding of a hate group--but at the cost of their clientele.
Let them take that pc gold star to their shareholders.
Whoa, Progressive too? We have two companies covering out home, auto and business. Progressive covers our business liability, workers comp and liability on the work van. Encompass covers the rest, home, vehicles, liability. If they are involved in this I will make sure we dump them.
Color of Change, in a press release Thursday, said that the "target companies" which have responded to its campaign to pull ads from Beck's show are: ConAgra (maker of Healthy Choice products), Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, RadioShack, Men's Wearhouse, State Farm, Sargento, Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, SC Johnson and GEICO.
Progressive could care less, they aren’t called that name for no reason. The only surprise is that they advertise on Fox at all.
I wonder how much a 30 second slot of simple scrolling text with website url / logo would cost. I’d put up $1000 per month from my business if we had a group of other FR business owners interested and someone to organize the deal.
So, how many would we need to get 30 seconds of Fox time specifically targeted in Glenn Beck’s time slot?
GEICO sucks....And will do everything in their power to pay legitimate claims.
Beck was exceptionally excellent today in his 5PM show!
I do get a little concerned about these advertisers that
everybody wants to boycott.
I am in favor of not purchasing the products, but
some of the advertisers are on one list and then out
comes another list that does not have the same companies
that were on the first list. (example campbell soup, general motors, chrysler, kellog, kraft foods, nestle, pfizer)
I need a little help here...
Yes, he was...and I am anxiously awaiting his return from vacation...he made it sound like the week he got back his show was going to be hot, hot, hot!!
Lewis’s company progressive insurance donated over 2 million to Moveon.org
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/2/2/222640.shtml
So which advertisers haven’t knuckled under? (I haven’t watched network television in more than a decade)
“what constitutes hate speech”
If innaccurately accusing people of racism is “hate speech,” then Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are in trouble.
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