Last month Glenn Beck appeared on Fox & Friends and accused President Obama of being a racist. He said…
“This President has, I think, exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep seated hatred for white people or the white culture. I don’t know what it is […] I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people, I’m saying he has a problem. He has a…This guy is, I believe, a racist.”
Fox News released a timid statement intended to put some distance between the network and Beck, but it simultaneously gave Beck more leeway to spew his repulsive views.
Well, Media Matters is now reporting that members of the advertising community are beginning to regard Beck’s Acute Paranoia Revue to be an unacceptable platform for their ads:
Media Matters: Three companies who run ads during Glenn Beck — NexisLexis-owned Lawyers.com, Proctor & Gamble and Progressive Insurance — today distanced themselves from Beck. LexisNexis has pulled its advertising from Beck and says it has no plans to advertise on the program in the future. Both Proctor & Gamble and Progressive Insurance called the Beck advertising placements an error that they would correct.
It’s about time.
A couple of days ago I wrote about Beck’s plea for peace. I found it thoroughly disingenuous and was suspicious of the timing. This may explain it. Certainly his superiors would have put some pressure on him if they were getting cancellations on ads. Especially after releasing quarterly earnings that reported a $3.4 billion loss. Rupert Murdoch must be a very unhappy mogul.
It should be noted that Procter and Gamble is the biggest advertiser in the world. Now, we don’t know where these ad dollars are going. They may just be shifted to other programs on Fox. But over time the network will not be able to remove itself from the taint that people like Beck, Hannity, O’Reilly, Cavuto, and the phalanx of obnoxious contributors bring to the airwaves.
Color of Change had taken the lead in protesting Beck’s remarks with a petition that delivered 45,000 173,000 signatures. They are still seeking to apply more pressure to more advertisers. So go there and help out.
Update: Advertisers continue to bail on Beck:
LexisNexis | Proctor & Gamble | Progressive Insurance |
S.C. Johnson | Geico | Clorox |
Men’s Warehouse | Sargento | Lowe’s |
State Farm | Roche | Sprint |
Sanofi-Aventis | RadioShack | Airware Inc |
Con-Agra | Travelocity | Ancestry.com |
Wal-Mart | Best Buy | AT&T |
CVS | Allergan | Blain Labs |
Ally Bank | Broadview Security | Campbell Soup |
Re-Bath | Farmer’s Insurance | DiTech |
The Elations Co. | Experion | Johnson & Johnson |
NutriSystem | UPS Stores | Verizon Wireless |
Applebee’s | Bank of America | Bell & Howell |
DirecTv | General Mills | Kraft |
Regions Financial | SAM (Store and Move) | Travelers Insurance |
Vonage | Binder & Binder | Capital One |
Dannon Company | Discover | HSBC |
ICAN Benefit Group Ins | Infiniti | Jelmar |
J. McKenna Debt Counseling | Mercedes-Benz | Simplex Healthcare |
AmMed Direct | Citrix Online | Concord Music Group |
Diageo | Eggland’s Best | Equifax |
Eulactol USA | GetARoom.com | Hoffman La Roche |
Metropolitan Talent Management | ooVoo | Overture Films |
Scarguard | Schiff Nutrition | Seoul Metropolitan Government |
Subaru | Toyota-Lexus | Waitrose |
Woodland Power Products |
Click here to see the advertisers remaining with Beck. It’s pretty pathetic.