Advertisers Pull Ads From Unrepentant Rush Limbaugh

By the time the clock was about to hit midnight on FRIDAY, MARCH 2nd, a half-dozen advertisers had used TWITTER to notify their clientele that they had pulled their advertising from RUSH LIMBAUGH's syndicated program.

CALIFORNIA mattress store chain SLEEP TRAIN was the first to announce via TWITTER that it has pulled its ads from LIMBAUGH's syndicated PREMIERE NETWORKS show after the host referred to a college student testifying about contraceptive availability as a "slut," then demanded that women on the pill provide sex videos since the government mandates insurance pays for the pill -- comments LIMBAUGH asserted were made as a form of absurd humor.

The chain, which operates in the SACRAMENTO, SAN FRANCISCO, SAN DIEGO, CENTRAL VALLEY and INLAND EMPIRE markets, tweeted, "We don't condone negative comments directed toward any group. In response, we are currently pulling our ads from RUSH with RUSH LIMBAUGH (sic)."

National advertiser SELECT COMFORT, which advertises its SLEEP NUMBER mattresses on the show, also pulled its ads from the show, tweeting, "Recent comments by RUSH LIMBAUGH do not align w/our values, so we made decision to immediately suspend all advertising on that program." Neither company's tweets indicate for how long the suspension of ads will last.

Later in the day, QUICKEN LOANS sent out the following Tweet: Due to continued inflammatory comments -- along w/valuable feedback from clients & team members -- QL has suspended ads on RUSH LIMBAUGH program."

Apparently, LIMBAUGH only fueled the controversy over his comments about activist law student SANDRA FLUKE and her attempts to testify before Congress in favor of government-funded contraception, saying on FRIDAY, "when the left wants to pretend they have no sense of humor, they are excellent at it. Yesterday in the riff about it, 'Okay, okay, fine. If we're gonna pay for this, at least let us have something for it. How about some sex videos?' If anybody doesn't realize that we are illustrating absurdity here by being absurd and that that is the trademark of this program ... But oh, no! 'Oh, of everything else you've said, that's the lowest of the low. Demanding sex video? Who do you think you are?' Lighten up. I remember using that phrase all the way back in 1989: Lighten up."

He later added, "now, at the end of this week, I am the person that the women of AMERICA are to fear the most. What can I do to the women of AMERICA? Do I have the power to raise their taxes? I do not. Do I have the power to regulate their behavior? I do not. Do I have the power to make health care decisions for them? I do not. Do I have the power to withhold birth control pills from them? I do not. Do I have the power to audit their tax returns? I do not. Do I have the power to take their little four-year-old kindergarten student's lunch and throw it away and make 'em eat something else? I do not. Do I have the power to look into their personal life and leak the information to the media? I do not. Is there one bit of freedom that I can deny them? Can I raise their taxes? They want to blame me as being the person they should fear, when in fact the people doing all these things I just said I have no power to do, the DEMOCRAT PARTY (sic) is doing."

LIMBAUGH'S rant certainly didn't quell the furor, as LEGALZOOM then tweeted that it "has suspended all advertising on the RUSH LIMBAUGH show."

Next to be heard was CITRIX, which went on FACEBOOK to announce, "We have listened to our customers & have decided to cease our advertising on The RUSH LIMBAUGH Show immediately."

But that may not be all, as PRO FLOWERS tweeted to its followers: "Rest assured, your feedback is heard. We heard about the comments and we will reevaluate our marketing plan."

What's more, CARBONITE CEO DAVID FRIEND posted this open letter to his customers:

Over the past two days we have received a tremendous amount of feedback on RUSH LIMBAUGH’s recent comments. I too am offended and very concerned about his comments. LIMBAUGH’s remarks have us rethinking our future use of Talk radio.

We use more than 40 Talk show hosts to help get the CARBONITE message out to the public. The nature of Talk radio is that from time to time, listeners are offended by a host and ask that we pull our advertising. This goes for conservatives like LIMBAUGH and progressives like STEPHANIE MILLER and ED SHULTZ. We even get customers who demand that we pull the plug on NPR. As an advertiser, we do not have control over a show’s editorial content or what they say on air. CARBONITE does not endorse the opinions of the shows or their hosts.

However, the outcry over LIMBAUGH is the worst we’ve ever seen. I have scheduled a face-to-face meeting next week with LIMBAUGH during which I will impress upon him that his comments were offensive to many of our customers and employees alike.

Please know your voice has been heard and that we are taking this matter very seriously.

Call here to support Normal Behavior
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Select Comfort
1-888-411-2188
http://www.sleepnumber.com/eng/aboutUs/redirect.cfm?sectionID=contact/contact.cfm

Citrix
Toll Free:800-424-8749
Phone:954-267-3000

Legalzoom
http://legalzoom.force.com/LZWTC
Corporate Headquarters
101 N. Brand Blvd., 11th Floor
Glendale, CA 91203
(323) 962-8600

Customer Support
(800) 773-0888

LegalAdvantage Attorney Consultation
(877) 818-8787
Fax (323) 962-8300

QUICKEN LOANS

http://www.quickenloans.com/about/contact
1-800-863-4332
http://www.contacthelp.com/contact_us.php

Sleep Train
Phone: (800) 919-2337
http://www.sleeptrain.com/contact-customer-service.aspx
Phone: 800-378-BEDS (2337)
2204 Plaza Drive
Rocklin, CA 95765
Phone: (800) 919-2337
Fax: (866) 293-5719
Email: customerservice@sleeptrain.com

Carbonite
Main Office: 617-587-1100
Toll Free: 877-665-4466
http://carbonite.custhelp.com/app/ask/contact_method/email/partner/carbonite
http://www.carbonite.com/en/about/contact-us

Pro Flowers
http://www.proflowers.com/Contactus.aspx?ref=organicyahbrand_Pro+Flowers+customer+service&prid=pfseoyb

http://www.proflowers.com/ContactUs.aspx?REF=SRCHgoogskwd_Brand

Wow - I’m very surprised.

Rush’s statement:

A Statement from Rush
March 03, 2012
For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.

I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone’s bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.

My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.

Let's not minimize the problem here. Selective and carefully targeted campaigns against advertisers can work. Conservative Christian organizations have used these campaigns for years and have had some success.

As capitalists, we can recognize people's right to refuse to buy a product or service. I don't have a problem with boycotts in principle, though they usually don't work because most people don't link their purchase decisions to corporate behavior.

That's a little different with Rush Limbaugh, who is well known for being over-the-top with his remarks. There probably **ARE** advertisers buying time on his show who do not realize what he says on his show, and they could end up pulling their ads.

What needs to happen — and happen **RIGHT NOW** — is two things.

First, actual customers of these businesses pulling their advertising need to contact the businesses, explain that they are regular customers (providing purchase receipts or dates of purchase would be helpful) and suggest that antagonizing actual customers is a bad idea merely because liberals who may not be customers are organizing a pressure campaign.

Second, people who are regular listeners to Rush Limbaugh, especially if they are customers, should contact the business, explain the facts of what Rush Limbaugh actually said, and suggest that yanking an ad because Limbaugh called a sexually promiscuous woman a “slut” makes no sense unless the company is prepared to yank all of its ads from television and radio programs glorifying promiscuity.

Sending copies of the letters or emails to Rush Limbaugh would likely be helpful.

The logic behind both of those two points is pretty much irrefutable. If enough people protest, advertisers will see that while a brief suspension of ads on Rush Limbaugh's program may be needed to throw a bone to the liberals, they can then put the ads back on the air on the grounds that they've “punished” Limbaugh with the suspension but the ratio of complaints on both sides shows that Limbaugh has just as many supporters as opponents.

Now, some practical guidance from experience:

I've been on the staff of two different news organizations subjected to those boycott campaigns on separate occasions.

One of them was completely false and unwarranted, but resulted in my publisher asking my editor to re-evaluate our news coverage of a strip club owner who was involved in a public fight with a two-star general over placing his club off-limits. I responded by writing an extended op-ed piece making clear that contrary to the public attacks and boycott threats against our newspaper, I'm a conservative Christian who has absolutely no toleration for strip clubs, am not opposed to the Army, had previously worked as a civilian in Army Public Affairs, and was at the time attending a local church of a conservative Presbyterian denomination, the PCA, whose more prominent ministers included Dr. D. James Kennedy, then the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. (Side point: I've since transferred to a much more conservative church of a different Presbyterian denomination, the ARPs, and I'm well aware of the problems that happened at Coral Ridge after Dr. Kennedy's death, though that had nothing to do with my decision to leave the PCA.)

Basically, once the newspaper allowed me to make clear publicly that I don't agree with the strip club owner and was merely reporting what he was saying, not agreeing with it, the boycott threat went away since the people threatening the boycott found out to their surprise that not everybody in the media is a God-hating anti-military liberal.

The second threat was at a different newspaper and I confronted it head on. Basically a local business owner got mad that I ran a photo of a wrecked car in which a rural high school student had died after a high-speed crash. (No photos of bodies, just the vehicle — I do not and will not run dead body photos.) When he started calling my advertisers to complain, I got in front of the ball, personally called all our significant advertisers in advance, explained the situation, said I would not stop running crash photos under any circumstances since people need to see the consequences of irresponsible driving, and offered details from the police report which showed the driver was even more irresponsible than had been publicly reported and easily could have killed more people than just himself. It probably didn't hurt that the high school cheerleaders were doing a fundraising campaign at the time, and I ended up making the first business contribution to that campaign.

The end result is not one advertiser pulled their ads, and several advertisers told me that when the complainer called, they responded to him in not very nice terms.

Bottom line: in a capitalist economy, people have every right in the world to organize boycotts. Boycott targets need to get in front of the ball and respond with facts. In the long run, facts usually win.

Rush apologized on his website. argh.

For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.

I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit?In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone’s bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.

My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.
......................

They are not offended, it was all fake outrage.

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