It appears that Glenn Beck's comments in which he called President Obama a racist have caused some concerns on Madison Avenue. To date, over 30 companies have directed that their commercials not run on Beck's Fox program. Below is a partial list of the companies that have pulled out:Progressive Insurance
Walmart
Proctor & Gamble
Best Buy
CVS Caremark
Sprint
Clorox
GEICO
When I received a forwarded email earlier this month from a dear family friend about the actions the organization Color of Change was taking to urge advertisers to pull their commercials from Beck's show, I was down for the cause without a pause. I am all for constructive political debate, but the fear mongering/race baiting antics of Glenn Beck only serve to further fracture our country along racial lines.
One of my favorite bloggers (Field Negro) wrote an outstanding post about the Glenn Beck vs. Color of Change showdown and how Beck and some of his fans are fighting back. No matter what side of the fence you stand on in regards to Beck, I hope you make an effort to check out Field Negro's post and share your thoughts on the matter.
13 comments:
That's what I'm talking about. Hit them in their wallet. I would like to see the list become bigger and I am going to write to the companies where I spend my dollars and ask that they not run their commercials during Beck's show.
lol
Good luck with all that.
Josh, You enjoy picking (I have noticed that about you). You could have kept your snide comment to yourself, but you chose to try to stir the pot. With 30 already pulling out, more will follow and I can say I did my part.
I'm not stirring the pot. People comment when they feel compelled to do so. Color me compelled.
I just didn't have a lot to say on the matter.
Since you know me, you do know that I would have said a whole lot more had I wanted to stir the pot. I'm definitely not reserved in my opinions nor do I mince words when I flesh them out.
So, in the interest of cordial non-debate, I will elaborate.
I find it amazingly humorous that Beck is being targeted as if he's the only person to ever call a President "racist."
The American people and the (non-liberal) media have been called racists by governors, actors, fellow pundits and the like, all within a frame of a few months. Not to mention that Bush was called a racist and you could hear a pin drop across the nation. No outrage or CoC mission.
So I laughed at the thought of selective fury -- "justice" ironically reverting back to fanaticism.
But people have the right to boycott whatever or whoever they want. So, good luck with it.
I didn't really see the point in illustrating the double standard, the partisan ploy, and the hypocrisy in this Beck situation as a whole. But...
Obama was insulted. People are responding. I expect nothing less.
My "lol" wasn't derogatory; it was more like an eye roll. :P
You are right, Beck is not the first, nor will he be the last to call the president a racist. I am in the here and now, not yesterday and not tomorrow. The plug needs to be pulled and I have 30 reputable corporations backing me up!
Oh yeah, I do consider you rolling your eyes derogatory, but I am sure you will disagree on that point as well. How about we just agree to disagree, like we do on most subjects :-)
Fine with me.
If it makes you feel any better, I was laughing at the post and not your comment.
It was a reaction to Malcolm's article(s) and the one he linked that insulted the hell out of anyone in opposition. :O
But, different battles, same war and all that.
Corporations don't agree in principle. They just can't afford to lose money. It's extortion lol
Okay. Shutting up now. Agreeing to disagree! :P
Joah, So now you know the political views of the corporations who pulled out? Fascinating! Political pundit and mind reader to boot :-)
Oh and you really did not have to try to make me feel better, because I never felt bad. That is the thing about the written word, you can never really know the feelings behind it. I was smiling the whole time I was reading your comments. No bitterness here, I respect your right to do and say whatever you please. I just think that somethings are better left unsaid. Now I am finished.
Nah, I don't know for sure. I don't know much of anything for sure, to be more truthful. I spend my life knowing little and trying to figure out a lot. It's an uphill battle.
A corporation is a business entity. Profits matter. Everything that goes along with, like image in the community, is aimed at profit.
I personally don't see a corporation backing out on principle agreement that Beck is whatever boycotters are claiming he is.
Did they stop paying Fox to run on Beck or on Fox in general?
The former would seem more like appeasement, whereas the latter would be more like the proverbial foot down.
I'm not sure which each respective company did. I just know that we're talking about businesses here. If their CEOs and shareholders etc had political views anti-Beck to begin with, why sacrifice principle in the first place? It seems like a big loop of redudancy.
Pjazzy: I was pleasantly surprised to find out the number/caliber of companies who pulled their spots from Beck's show. It just proves that we can make a difference.
Josh: No, Beck isn't the only person to call a President a racist. However, I believe he is the first member of the media to go on record and make such an accusation and I think that's why he's being targeted. Not only did he label the President a racist, he then feebly attempted to back up the ridiculous claim. Although it may be asking a lot, I think that Beck and everyone else in the media should show responsibility and integrity.
As for George W. Bush, I hope you aren't implying that public figures could say whatever they wanted about him w/o any repercussions. Natalie Maines expressed an opinion about then President Bush and look at all the backlash (including death threats) it caused.
Boycotts are one thing, but death threats for expressing an opinion? Many conservative/right-wing bloggers have stated how they are tired of the term "racist" being tossed around. Predictably, none of the ones I read called Beck on the carpet for labeling President Obama a racist. Talk about selective outrage.
From my understanding on how this works advertisers have the option of by blocks of time on a network and allowing the network to choose where to place the advertisement, (less expensive), or they can choose spefic programing based on their goals, like airing during a popular show or a show that targets a specific demographic, (more expensive). Although those businesses requested their adds to be pulled off the show they did not request it be pulled off the network, just moved. So unless they rquested a discount Fox keeps the same amount of money they were getting for the ads. Which kind of useless since the real problem is Fox News period not just Glen Beck. The only corp that I know of that doesnt advertise on Fox is UPS but I dont think that has anything to do with Fox's politics.
It's a two way street, it's a black eye for Beck and calls into question he and Fox's dubious intentions as well as show the power of protest.
But on the other hand it's really only a moral victory, cause everyone knows they only way to hurt rich people is to take their money away, and Fox got to keep theirs.
@Malcolm
My point being that it's always partisan (not only in the political context). And to pretend it's not just makes for an extremely long back-and-forth about which "side" did what. Principle is extremely relative.
But there is a double standard on the media level, and that's simply because the vast majority of media are liberal. It would probably be the other way if right-wing media had so many outlets. But they don't. Ironically enough, Beck isn't right-wing, Republican or conservative. (He is a loon, however.)
As far as the Dixie Chicks and their comment, I agree that death threats were far above and beyond! They had every right to say that, even though I thought it deplorable.
I've had my life threatened for sitting at the stop light too long once it changed. Some people just need their ass kicked, and there's no other way to put it.
But no, I wasn't suggesting that all public figures can say anything. In this case, just that Kanye West painted Bush a racist and I don't think CoC took him to task. I don't recall anyone in the mainstream calling for protests. Pundit or not, a popular figure has the ears of millions.
Again, just illustrating how it's partisan/biased more than principle with Beck.
Hypocrisy and selective fury doesn't crawl out of the context unless someone's claiming that it's not a partisan ploy while holding the party (encompassing term) line.
I know I'm not Mr. Independent Streak over here. I'm biased on these issues; NON-liberal to the fullest.
If others could admit the same, I think we'd all be in better shape. That's what I mean by reverting back to fanaticism -- fighting under the banner of "just" while it's not even about that.
Beck's a white guy, considered right-wing, and went after our "black" uber-liberal President. Here come the pain.
Clnmike: You are right about Fox, not Glenn Beck, being the real problem. It reminds me of something that BJ said to Hawkeye in an episode of M*A*S*H: You treated a sympton. The disease goes merrily on.
Josh: Although Kanye caught flack for his comments about Bush, I am surprised that it wasn't more. It could be related to Bush's lower job approval rating at the time of Kanye's comments as opposed to what they were when Natalie Maines criticized him.
The reason I think a pundit's words have a greater impact than the average celeb is that the former has a steady forum with which they can air their views. In addition to their own radio and/or TV shows, many of these pundits also appear as guests on other programs. Most non-pundit celebs don't have that type of media access. This will likely be another instance of you and I agreeing to disagree.
clnmike -
Keep in mind that this does hurt Beck directly. Even though FOX keeps the adverts, these are that many fewer they can put on Beck's show. If enough pull out - keeping in mind that some are paying more than others - Beck will be gone.
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