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Ex-Limbaugh sponsor says dropping show during Fluke controversy hurt company (Carbonite)
Washington Examiner ^ | 3 August 2012 | Sean Higgins

Posted on 08/03/2012 3:38:07 PM PDT by markomalley

During the height of the Rush Limbaugh/Sandra Fluke controversy in March, software company Carbonite announced it would no longer sponsor the conservative radio host. As CEO David Friend said at the time:

No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show. We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.

Liberals touted the action as proof that Limbaugh was becoming toxic and his show was in danger. So how has dumping Limbaugh worked out for Carbonite? Not so well. Turns out alienating Rush’s fans may have been more damaging than alienating his critics. As the blog Legal Insurrection noted today:

On August 1 Carbonite released its 2d Quarter 2012 results, the first full quarter after dropping Limbaugh in March.  The results shocked Wall Street, as Carbonite did not meet its growth targets, causing multiple analysts to drop the target price.  The stock dropped 15% in a day.

What’s more, in a conference call, Friend linked the decline to the Limbaugh action:

Yeah, I’d say it turned out to be a bigger issue than we had anticipated. Because you know at the time there was a lot of noise, I mean we had a huge spike in web traffic around that time just because of all the interest in the whole subject. And it took close to a month for that to sort of die down. And meanwhile our metrics were, we really couldn’t see what was going because there was so much noise around the website that we had no idea what the ultimate impact was going to be.  It turned out to be a bigger hole in our revenue than we had thought when we initially did this.

Friend added that he was “not regretful of the decision. I think things would have been worse had we not done that.” Legal Insurrection’s William Jacobson calls that “laughable” adding: “It’s too convenient now to say things would have been worse, when Friend completely misjudged the impact of dropping Limbaugh.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News
KEYWORDS: carbonite; davidfriend; fail; fluke; freespeech; mozy; rush; rushlimbaugh; sandrafluke; slut; tolerantleft; waronrush
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1 posted on 08/03/2012 3:38:15 PM PDT by markomalley
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To: markomalley
Friend added that he was “not regretful of the decision.

Proof positive that he cannot learn a lesson.

I suspect many are like me--I currently use Carbonite because I am in the middle of a subscription period. When that subscription is over, so is my association with that company.

I will not buy a GM vehicle, and I will not continue with Carbonite.

They can shove it.

2 posted on 08/03/2012 3:41:27 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: markomalley
“It’s too convenient now to say things would have been worse,"

Sounds like a barry soundbite.

3 posted on 08/03/2012 3:42:16 PM PDT by NoGrayZone (For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothing.)
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To: markomalley

We told you so!

Picking a fight with the little fuzzy little ball is the same as picking a fight with us.


4 posted on 08/03/2012 3:43:13 PM PDT by Kevin in California
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To: markomalley
Mr. Friend, you're putting on a brave face, as a CEO must, but I can tell that deep down, you're suffering.

Let me cheer you up.

Have a Chick-Fil-A.

Cheers!

5 posted on 08/03/2012 3:43:22 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: markomalley

David Friend did the public a favor by exposing himself as David Fraud.


6 posted on 08/03/2012 3:44:47 PM PDT by iowamark
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To: markomalley

Not to mention the absolute stupidity of this statement:

“this courageous and well-intentioned young lady”

That polit1cally-motivated tool was anything but “well-intentioned” The slut was nothing more than a Useful Idiot, and an embarrassment to herself and family.


7 posted on 08/03/2012 3:47:05 PM PDT by A_Former_Democrat (Now a Chick-fil-A customer . . . God bless Dan Cathy)
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To: SoFloFreeper

Friend should have condemned Fluke for being a Socialist tool making inane comments before Congress.

What’s the back-up Hannity endorses, Mozy.com?


8 posted on 08/03/2012 3:47:13 PM PDT by rashley (Rashley)
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To: markomalley

Conservatives are not going to take these attacks any longer and are going to respond by not doing business with those companies who want to make a political statement against us.


9 posted on 08/03/2012 3:47:40 PM PDT by fortheDeclaration (Pr 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation:but sin is a reproach to any people)
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To: markomalley

Yo have a daughter that is a 30-year-old liberal activist who enrolled at Georgetown University with the express purpose of forcing the school to pay for students’ birth control, and her ultimate mission is to force schools to pay for sex change operations as well?


10 posted on 08/03/2012 3:48:08 PM PDT by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2011)
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To: SoFloFreeper
Good for you!!

I wish I had a Carbonite subscription to cancel.

And, no G(overnment) M(otors) for our house either.

11 posted on 08/03/2012 3:51:01 PM PDT by Jane Long (Soli Deo Gloria!)
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To: fortheDeclaration

Yep. All those companies can choose to have “our” business or “their” business.


12 posted on 08/03/2012 3:51:23 PM PDT by Terry Mross
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To: markomalley

The logic of this guy astounds me.

2% of the public and their friends, would cause more of a negative impact than nearly 98% of the public.

Double down then asshole, donate $2 million dollars to the same-sex marriage campaign. Lets see what miracles that sparks.

While you’re at it, issue a public statement against Chick-Fil-A. I mean if you actually believe what your drooling out on the press room floor, do these things. They would make perfect sense to you.

Liar.


13 posted on 08/03/2012 3:51:57 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Vote Obama he's unqualified on so many subjects, citizenship, history, economics, racism, allies...)
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To: NoGrayZone

Let’s not forget that this “young, courageous woman” brought the “slut” description upon herself by claiming as a full-time law student she couldn’t afford $2400 per year in contraceptives and pleaded that university health insurance plans be required by law to provide contraception at no cost. Rush pointed out that a monthly supply of birth control pills cost $7 at Walmart and that only a slut would need $200/month in birth control supplies.


14 posted on 08/03/2012 3:52:49 PM PDT by Procyon (Decentralize, degovernmentalize, deregulate, demonopolize, decredentialize, disentitle.)
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To: Dallas59

Did you notice that list of freebies that insurance companies have to provide to women these days, starting August 1st? Wow!

It’s only a matter of time before men start demanding a reduced premium for getting so much less service than women do.

Where’s the equity here BM, oops, I mean BO? Don’t you believe in fairness for men?


15 posted on 08/03/2012 3:58:02 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Vote Obama he's unqualified on so many subjects, citizenship, history, economics, racism, allies...)
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To: markomalley
Friend added that he was “not regretful of the decision. I think things would have been worse had we not done that.”

How fast was he spinning when he said that?

16 posted on 08/03/2012 3:58:02 PM PDT by Repeal 16-17 (Let me know when the Shooting starts.)
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To: markomalley

“Mr.” WIMP Friend.......HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!! You are an IDIOT if you couldn;t see that the Fluke story was a FLAKE story!! IDIOT.


17 posted on 08/03/2012 3:58:52 PM PDT by Ann Archy ( ABORTION...the HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: markomalley
Yeah, I’d say it turned out to be a bigger issue than we had anticipated.

Kid of like that letter dingy hairy and other dim members sent to Rush he auctioned for over $2 million. You don't mess with the big man.

18 posted on 08/03/2012 3:59:39 PM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (RINO season is open. No limit. Make them extinct.)
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To: markomalley

This CEO made a poltical decision and now he wants to pretend it was an economic one. He fails on both counts.


19 posted on 08/03/2012 4:04:43 PM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: markomalley

ROTFLMAO!!! I went to sosonline.

http://www.sosonlinebackup.com/


20 posted on 08/03/2012 4:09:13 PM PDT by US_MilitaryRules (Unnngh! To many PDS people!)
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