Update #9: Healthy Choice, Radio Shack, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis & Travelocity all pull ads from Glenn Beck Program. More, more, more…how do you like it, how do you like it… [8/12/09]
Update #8: State Farm Insurance states says that ads should not have been run during the Glenn Beck Program. They state that they have corrected the error and ads will no longer run during Beck.
Update #7: Men’s Wearhouse has stated that they will not be airing any ads during the Glenn Beck Program. Full statement below. [8/11/09]
Update #6: Sargento Cheese also stated that they will be dropping Glenn Beck. Full statement below. [8/11/09]
Update #5: GEICO announced today that they will be pulling their ads from the Glenn Beck Program on Fox News. [8/11/09]
Update #4: I know that there is a lot of effort to contact Glenn Beck’s wide array of sponsors and that’s good. I urge everyone to continue. BUT, in order for this effort to work, it must be somewhat organized. UPS is one of Glenn Beck’s largest, if not the largest, direct sponsors. Accordingly, UPS should be the primary focus of this campaign. If you haven’t already contacted UPS, please do. Start with them first, then contact the others.
Update #3: If you are looking for Glenn Beck sponsor/advertiser information, scroll down to the bottom of this post.
Update #2: It was recently announced that Procter & Gamble, Lawyers.com (owned by LexisNexis) and Progressive Insurance are distancing themselves from Glenn Beck. I will be posting my thoughts on this later as well. These actions are a useful first step, but they are by no means adequate.
Update #1: I received a response from UPS. See it below.
"""""""
Beck doesn't want you to contact his sponsors. shhhh
Beck doesn't want you to contact his sponsors. shhhh
On July 2, I began a campaign of systematically contacting Glenn Beck’s sponsors after he expressed his hope for another terrorist attack against the United States in order to advance his political agenda. You can read about those efforts here. Although they were largely unsuccessful, I continued to organize on Twitter and research Beck’s sponsors.
Well, as expected, Beck continued spewing vitriol. Most recently, he said that President Obama was a racist and that Obama has a “deep-seated hatred of white people.” [Video]
As expected, this has caused quite a stir. It’s even breathed new life into the notion that Glenn Beck’s sponsors must answer for their financial support of Glen Beck’s outrageous and sometimes downright dangerous statements. If you are interested, follow our organizing efforts on Twitter and feel free to check JenkinsEar.com for updates.
It is important that we organize and that we act systematically in order to have the largest impact. Feel free to contact whatever sponsors you would like, but right now the primary focus should be on UPS. If you ever watch the Glenn Beck program (and I do not suggest you do), you will hear several times: “The Glenn Beck show is brought to you by UPS.” Well, isn’t that dandy. Contact UPS and ask them why they continue to fund Glenn Beck’s vitriol.
UPS Contact Info:
Email:
[email protected]
Twitter: @ThomasatUPS
Here is the text of the email that I sent to UPS:
On July 28, 2009, Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck called President Obama a racist and stated that “[Obama] has a deep-seated hatred of white people.” Despite widespread public admonishment of these remarks, Mr. Beck continues to stand by his statements. UPS is a Glenn Beck sponsor on Fox News and has thus far been silent on Beck’s remarks. I just wanted to inform you that after these malicious statements, members of my family, friends and I will not use your services until you cease sponsoring Mr. Beck or take significant action to rebuke these remarks.
In case you are not aware, you can watch a video of Mr. Beck’s comments here [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI_0Kt_e3Go].
I recognize that as advertisers, you are not directly responsible for the statements made by hosts. I am also aware that given the diversity of opinions that exist on cable news, it is challenging to find a message that will satisfy all audiences. Certainly, some groups will always be upset by something that is said. However, this is not a simple political disagreement. Mr. Beck is intentionally exploiting historical racial tension and ginning up additional racial tension for personal gain and to advance his political agenda. Moreover, given the sensitive security situation associated with the first black president, it is especially pernicious for Mr. Beck to validate the positions held by some extreme groups and people.
Further, this is not the first time that Mr. Beck has made outlandish statements with little regard for their veracity or the consequences. For example, in March, Mr. Beck suggested that Pres. Obama was constructing “concentration camps,” where he would send conservatives and political opponents. Earlier this month, Mr. Beck agreed with a guest’s advocacy of the detonation of a major weapon in the United States as the only means available for implementing their shared political agenda.
Although you are not directly responsible for these remarks, you are indirectly responsible in that you provide the funding that supports Glenn Beck’s program. This is unacceptable. Something must be done to address these horrific remarks and until something is done, your company will lose out on my business. Further, I will continue to spread the word that you are paying money to a news network that allows its hosts to stoke racial tensions for personal and political gain.
Best Regards
I will update this post as additional information becomes available.
UPS sent the following reply:
Thank you for your e-mail regarding our recent advertising on Fox. We value your input and take your comments very seriously.
UPS is very sensitive to the type of television programming with which we associate our messaging. While our advertising schedules are purchased months in advance, we work with our agencies to monitor programming for offensive, inappropriate or controversial content as our schedules run. We do not, however, always have complete visibility into which programs will be promoted in purchased shows.
Occasionally, our advertising ends up near polarizing content. If we find that this becomes a consistent pattern, we will re-evaluate our commitment to particular programs or networks.
This is pretty much the standard response that I expected, although unlike other sponsors I have contacted, UPS provided for the possibility that they will drop Glenn Beck if enough people complain over a period of time. In other words, if we continue apply pressure to UPS, then they will inevitably drop him. So lets…
Sargento Cheese confirms that they will be pulling their ads from the Glenn Beck Program. Here’s their response email (much appreciation to Wrotte from Twitter for passing along this info):
We deeply appreciate your reaching out to us and sharing your comments and concerns about Sargento ads appearing during “The Glenn Beck Show.” We sat down with the marketing department to talk about it and I learned that we buy time periods not specific programs. But in any event, they’ve made the decision to exclude that program from our future ad rotation. Simply stated, Sargento ads won’t be airing during that show. Again, thanks for contacting us.
Received the following email from Men’s Wearhouse stating that they will be pulling their ads from Glenn Beck:
Thank you for contacting Men’s Wearhouse and bringing to our attention your concerns with the Glenn Beck program on Fox News. While we support free speech and do not make advertising decisions based on our own personal ideologies, after reviewing his recent incendiary comments we have decided to remove our advertising from his program. We hope that this decision will allow you to continue to patronize Men’s Wearhouse. I would encourage you to please share our decision with anyone else who may have expressed a similar concern.
Thank you again for contact Men’s Wearhouse.
Sponsor information after the jump…Glenn Beck Program on Fox News Channel Sponsors
ADT Security
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
Brita
* Tel: 1-800-24-BRITA
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
Campbell Soup
* Tel: 1-800-257-8443
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
* Twitter: @CampbellSoupCo
DITECH.COM (added 8/11/09)
* Tel: 1-800-DITECH-3
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
GEICO
Kellog’s
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
Kraft Foods
* Tel: 1-877-535-5666
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
Lawyers.com (owned by LexisNexis)
Men’s Wearhouse
Nestle
* Tel: 1-800-225-2270
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
Progressive Insurance
Pfizer
* Tel: 1-212-733-2323
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
* Twitter: @pfizer_news
Procter & Gamble
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
RadioShack
* Tel: 1-800-843-7422
* Email:
[email protected]
Sargento
* Tel: 1-800-243-3737
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
Vonage (added 8/11/09)
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site] or
[email protected] and
[email protected]
* Twitter: @vonage_voice
Walmart
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
* Twitter: @Walmartkelly; @Walmartmeeting; @Walmartkevin
Glenn Beck Radio Sponsors
Angie’s List
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
* Twitter: @AngiesList
DISH Network
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
* Twitter: @dishnetwork
GoToMyPC.com
* Tel: 1-888-259-3826
* Email:
[email protected]
* Twitter: @gotomypc
LegalZoom
* Tel: 1-800-773-0888
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
* Twitter: @LegalZoom
Purina One
* Tel: 1-866-787-4621
* Email: Contact Form [link to company site]
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