Toyota: No More Ads On Glenn Beck’s Show In UK

By GottaLaff

Via my Twitter pal StopBeck, who has been relentless in his anti-Beck efforts, we get this good news:

Toyota’s statement:

There were a number of mentions yesterday on Twitter regarding a Toyota GB advertising spot which ran during a Fox Network TV show on Satellite TV.

We looked into the issue, and our Advertising Department have now released this statement:

“It came to our attention yesterday that one of our advertisements appeared during Glenn Beck’s show in late January 2010, after Toyota-Lexus USA withdrew its sponsorship of the show in late 2009. Having looked into this Toyota (GB) can confirm that it supports Toyota-Lexus USA in their decision to cease running these advertisements. We are working to ensure that no other advertisements of ours will air during future shows.”

Thanks to those who brought this to our attention.

Thank YOU, Toyota... and StopBeck!

Michael Moore: Boycott Connecticut

By GottaLaff

I enjoy Michael Moore, and I think he and his films make great points. He's fun to watch, is bright, and has his heart in the right place. However, this is a little unrealistic and, IMHO, not helpful....

FYI: Connecticut doesn't allow recalls. Not that I wouldn't support that part of Moore's message, but the boycott? Not so much.

More ads pulled from Glenn Beck Show

By GottaLaff

Calgon, take him away!

This morning, Reckitt Benckiser (maker of Lysol, Airwick, Vanish, Calgon, etc..) confirmed that they’ve already pulled their ads in the United States and will pull ads in the UK, writing:

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. In the US we stopped ads, I will advise the UK team to do the same. In general RB does not endorse any specific show on any network nor the personal views or opinions that may be voiced on such shows.

H/t: StopBeck

About That Glenn Beck Ad Boycott

Ha! /chris matthews laugh

A recent late November airing of "Glenn Beck" offered advertisers pushing gold and silver financial investments and services, older-skewing products and fringe nutritional products.

These include Lifestyle Lift (chin lift); an AARP Medicare product; and retirement homes, such as the TimeSharesOnly and The Villages in Florida -- the latter a community that Beck has done some extra promotional work around.

Friedman notes, "There is still no sign of top-drawer, higher-valued daytime TV advertisers, such as Procter & Gamble, Geico, Clorox, UPS Stores and Progressive Insurance. Their ads had previously appeared on the program."

Via TV Newser. More on the boycott here.

Rightie uproar over Best Buy’s ‘Happy Eid al-Adha’ wish to Muslims

By GottaLaff

Best Buy had the nerve--the nerve!-- to wish Muslims a public “Happy Eid al-Adha” in one of its circulars. And in such a conspicuously large font too! Why, one can nearly read that without the aid of a magnifying glass! How dare they!

Spreading cheer like that should be outlawed! Outlawed, I say!

And now the Twin Cities-based retailer is facing a boycott by commenters at the rightwing Free Republic forum. [...]

Now Wonkette reports that Freepers are incensed that the company would give a holiday shout-out to members of the globe’s second-largest religion.

Aw come on, to think that people of the Freepitude ilk would ever get incensed about something so holiday cheery is preposterous! Oh, wait.

It's good to know that they only share good tidings with those who fall in line with their own narrow beliefs. That's the spirit! Way to make this a small world after all.

Yes, nothing says love thy neighbor like jamming Best Buy's customer forums, as well as their own Freeper free-for-alls. Examples:

To: UB355

Time to hit the best buy weekly ad forum:

http://www.forums.bestbuy.com/t5/Weekly-Sales/bd-p/Sales

Let them know how you feel.

***

To: DataDink

I hope Drudge picks this up. Then the story will go mainstream.

And:

Commenter “wally_bert” writes: “BB is a Mpls company. Mpls is overrun with ragheads.”

Other commenters were more open-minded.

Happy freakin' holidays.

MoveOn.org Petition Calls On Democrats To Stay Off Fox

By GottaLaff

Via News Corpse:

Now MoveOn.org has come aboard:

President Obama is fighting back against FOX. The White House communications director said FOX is a “wing of the Republican Party…let’s not pretend they’re a news network.”

To draw attention to its biased coverage, President Obama will not appear on FOX for the rest of this year. Can you sign this petition asking Democrats to support President Obama’s stance by staying off FOX as long as he does?

A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to Democratic senators and representatives.

Seems the White House involvement has everyone all wee-wee'd up and ready to go!

19 more advertisers ditch Glenn Beck

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: Complete list of dropped/remaining advertisers here, via @stopbeck on Twitter.

Via FDL:

[N]ineteen more of Beck's advertisers have stopped supporting his show. That number includes two British companies who just announced that they've pulled their ads from the UK broadcast of Beck's show after hearing from customers.

Two companies--Waitrose (the British supermarket chain) and Metropolitan Talent Management--pulled their ads not only from Beck's show, but from Fox News in general. [...] [Laffy Note: Original post about that here]

Here's the full list of new companies ditching Beck: AmMed Direct, Citrix Online, Concord Music Group, Diageo, Eggland's Best, Equifax, Eulactol USA (producer of Flexitol), GetARoom.com, Hoffman La Roche (maker of BONIVA), Metropolitan Talent Management, ooVoo, Overture Films, Scarguard, Schiff Nutrition (maker of Tiger's Milk and Fi-Bar), Seoul Metropolitan Government, Subaru, Toyota-Lexus, Waitrose and Woodland Power Products, Inc.

From the press release we're sending today:

Comments from advertisers recently distancing themselves from Beck:

"We will not be airing on that show [Glenn Beck] any longer," said Michael McHale, Director of Corporate Communications for Subaru of America, in a phone conversation with ColorOfChange.org.

"Lexus ads are not appearing on the Glenn Beck show," said Nancy Hubbell, Communications Manager for Lexus Prestige, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We have no plans to buy Beck," Hubbell later reiterated in a separate email to ColorOfChange.org.

"Please rest assured that we do not endorse Beck's views and are having our advertising agency request that Fox no longer air our advertisements during his shows," said John Mills, Director of Marketing for AmMed Direct, in an email to ColorOfChange.org.

"We are currently shifting our presence on the Fox Television network to a time slot that will not include the Glenn Beck television program," said Bernardo de Albergaria, Vice President of Global Marketing & eCommerce for Citrix Online, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "I have received confirmation that Fox has been instructed to begin this transition immediately and I am advised it will be fully implemented by October 9th."

[Citrix Online pulled its advertisements from rotation on Glenn Beck's radio show in early September, but was recently contacted regarding ads that were recently seen on Beck's television show.]

"We did not specifically purchase time on Glen Beck [sic], rather the Fox News Channel as a whole," said Dino Balzano, Director of Advertising and Merchandise at Concord Music Group, in email to ColorOfChange.org. "But, of course, if we consider this ‘news cluster' purchase again in the future, we will only do so if we can be guaranteed to NOT be in that program."

"Pending further review, Eggland's Best has suspended TV advertising on the Glenn Beck show," said Katy Gray, a spokesperson for Eggland's Best, in an email to ColorOfChange.org.

"Equifax advertisements that appeared during the Glenn Beck Show were not specifically slated to air alongside the show and were purchased as part of a larger, rotational media buy on Fox Network," said Demitra L. Wilson, Director of Public Relations for Equifax, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We have taken the necessary steps to ensure that our ads will no longer appear during this programming."

"You will not see Flexitol commercials on the Glenn Beck show. Period," said John Swigert, Vice President and General Manager at Eulactol USA, makers of Flexitol, in an email to ColorOfChange.org.

"We asked to no longer run our commercial on the Glenn Beck show," said Bob Diener, President of GetARoom.com, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We were running on rotation and so did not know where the show would air."

"We are appalled at what's going on," said John Scher, co-CEO of Metropolitan Talent Management, in a phone conversation with ColorOfChange.org. "Metropolitan Talent Management is 100% dedicated to not buy advertising on any part of Fox News."

"We learned of this yesterday and have taken action to discontinue ads on that program," said Marty Walker, Chief Marketing Officer for ooVoo, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We gave the order to stop yesterday."

"We're no longer going to book any of his air time," said Adam Keen, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Publicity for Overture Films, in a phone message to ColorOfChange.org. "I'm really glad to be informed of what you guys are doing."

"We never, ever planned on advertising on that particular show," said Alan Graham, Marketing Vice President of Scarguard Labs, LLC, in a phone message to ColorOfChange.org. "We have taken the necessary steps to ensure we don't run ads there again."

"We have requested that they [Fox News] no longer run Schiff advertisements on that show," said Raquel Wilson, Director of Marketing for Schiff Nutrition, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We were not aware Schiff would be slotted on the Glenn Beck show."

"The Seoul government has no plan to extend, resume, or add its commercial on the program," said Joan E. Bloom, a US spokesperson for the city of Seoul, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "In other word [sic], there will not be Seoul commercial in the Glenn Beck program any more."

"Our advertising is no longer running on that program," said Vincent VanOss, Director of Advertising for Woodland Power Products, Inc., in a phone message for ColorOfChange.org.

Thanks again for helping us hold Beck accountable.

Never underestimate the power of those who have ethics and sanity on their side.

Glenn Beck/Fox News Boycott Goes International

By GottaLaff

News Corpse has a bit of interesting news, luvs. I absobloomin'lutely adore the British, don't you? Eh? What?

Today there are over 60 companies that have withdrawn from his show because they do not want their brands associated with the hatred and hostility for which Beck is known. [...]

But now the campaign has expanded into the international arena. The Guardian UK is reporting that Waitrose, Britain’s most upmarket supermarket chain, has pulled all of their advertising, not just from Beck, but from all of the Fox News Channel.

“We take the placement of our ads in individual programmes very seriously, ensuring the content of these programmes is deemed appropriate for a brand with our values,” said a customer services spokesman. “Since being notified of our presence within the Glenn Beck programme, we have withdrawn all Waitrose advertising from the Fox News channel with immediate effect and for all future TV advertising campaigns.”

Fox News airs in Europe on Sky satellite television. Sky itself is part of the international media empire owned by Rupert Murdoch who, of course, also owns Fox News. Sky’s chairman is Murdoch’s son James, who is the likely heir to the News Corp. throne.

Notable in this announcement is that Waitrose explicitly states that their ads will be withheld from all of Fox News. Previously, Fox has claimed that they were not suffering any revenue loss because ads removed from Beck were simply shifting to other programs. They can no longer make that claim.

Loverly.

Cheers then!

UPS drops ALL Fox advertising

By GottaLaff

I've always loved my UPS Guy. Brown is now my favorite color:

Rich Hallabran, spokesman for UPS Stores, said today he has not only temporarily halted buying ads on the Glenn Beck Show but also on the Fox News Channel altogether as reported by AP Television writer David Bauder

Congratulations to Color of Change [...]

And now, not only UPS but a total of 33 companies have joined the boycott, including Clorox, CVS, and Sprint.

While the UPS move is "temporary," UPS is still the first company to remove their advertising from Fox News altogether, instead of just directing that ads be placed in other advertising slots. [...]

The fallout from advertisers may well spill over into other controversial cable news shows.

The shows present a dilemma for advertisers, who usually like a "safe" environment for their messages. The Olbermanns, Hannitys, O'Reillys, Maddows and Becks of the TV world are more likely to say something that will anger a viewer, who might take it out on sponsors.

They also host the most-watched programs on their networks.

However, for the moment, we must allow ourselves to revel in this UPSless Glenn Dreck Schadenfreude moment:

Travel Guy Frommer: "Do Guns at Political Events Disturb You? Then Consider Skipping Arizona for Now "

By GottaLaff

When Travel Guy Arthur Frommer states publicly that he won't be traveling to Arizona anymore because of the nutbally assault rifle-toters' little show outside of the Phoenix Obama event, the hotels must be quaking in their fluffy white terry robes:

[...] I am shocked beyond measure by reports that earlier this week, nearly a dozen persons, including one with an assault rifle strapped about his shoulders and others with pistols in their hands or holsters, were openly congregating outside a hall at which President Obama was speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

For myself, without yet suggesting that others follow me in an open boycott, I will not personally travel in a state where civilians carry loaded weapons onto the sidewalks and as a means of political protest. I not only believe such practices are a threat to the future of our democracy, but I am firmly convinced that they would also endanger my own personal safety there. And therefore I will cancel any plans to vacation or otherwise visit in Arizona until I learn more. And I will begin thinking about whether tourists should safeguard themselves by avoiding stays in Arizona.

I hear Oregon is beautiful this time of year.

H/t: TPM

Kyl Threatens GOP Boycott of Sotomayor Hearing

By GottaLaff

How productive. What are they, like five years old?

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) told Roll Call yesterday that he and his Republican colleagues on the Judiciary Committee may boycott Judge Sotomayor’s hearings if Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) does not cave to right-wing demands to delay the hearings:

“As the hearing time approaches we will evaluate whether we can make that deadline,” Kyl said, explaining that if Republicans do not feel they can adequately question Sotomayor they will try to meet with Leahy to make a plea for more time.

However, Kyl, who serves on the Judiciary Committee, did not explicitly rule out the use of delay tactics, including a Republican boycott of the confirmation hearings, if an accommodation cannot be made.

But Kyl is not entitled to any more accommodations than what he has already received. Far from expediting Sotomayor’s confirmation process, Leahy set a schedule which is virtually identical to that enjoyed by Bush appointee John Roberts [...]

Earlier this week, all seven GOP members of the Judiciary Committee signed a letter demanding that Sotomayor complete a series of irrelevant or even impossible tasks before her nomination may be considered.

And then they took a milk-and-cookies break, had nap time, and learned how to tie the laces on their big boy shoes.

Conservatives boycott Fox

By GottaLaff

"This thread would do really well at Daily Koz. They think this is a great idea. They even have the artwork ready…" Yes, that’s [Mark's] artwork posted by a Freeper.

Via our pal Mark at News Corpse, we find that Bloggers at Free Republic (aka Freepers) are leaving comments, and what comments they are! They're mad and they're not gonna take it any more. Wardrobe Barbie has been betrayed, and the Freepies are standin' up for their gal!

The treatment of Sarah Palin by Fox reporter Carl Cameron and others has incensed them to the point where they are vowing never to watch again. [...]

• I propose that we punish the FOX Network for its hatchet job on Sarah Palin. For one week beginning at 3:00 PM today no one tunes them in. We will demonstrate the power of conservatives when their ratings plummet dramatically. Will you join me? [FYI: their boycott will have no affect whatsoever on the ratings unless a significant number of them are Nielsen families]
• I’m done with Teevee. Let them all go to hell.
• I am with you all the way my friend…i hope FOX goes off the air…hate em now…
• It would be easy. Nearly every show on FNC is unwatchable these days. ….for quite a while, in fact.
• fauxNEWS - We Distort, You Comply
• too late………I wrote them off months ago
• GO TO EVERY RIGHTWING BLOG AND TELL THEM TO TURN OFF FOX.
• Tell him he’s no better than the “smear merchants” and “bombthrowers” he holds in such contempt. Allowing Carl Cameron to spew unmitigated hearsay and garbage without one shred of supporting evidence or fact makes O’Reilly just as bad as the supermarket tabloids.
• Life without FOX is good.
• It’s not a secret that 81% of Fox News reporters and employees donate money to the Democratic party - that’s a crazy high number for an allegedly conservative TV channel. It’s no secret to the gay community that Shepard Smith is “one” of them.
• FOX now SUX bigtime!
• Screw them too. I have watched very little since their recent maniacal swerve left.
• If FOX wants me back they will bring on Glenn Beck and Rush. I have had it with weasels like Hannity and O’Reilly.[Beck is on the way]

And looky here, kiddies! The Freepers have company!

The folks at RedState are weighing in as well with Operation Leper:

We’re tracking down all the people from the McCain campaign now whispering smears against Governor Palin to Carl Cameron and others [...] We intend to constantly remind the base about these people, monitor who they are working for, and, when 2012 rolls around, see which candidates hire them. Naturally then, you’ll see us go to war against those candidates.

This may become a new Democratic spectator sport. Maybe we should build a coliseum.

Florida Republican women's group to boycott Oprah

By GottaLaff

This started with yet another lie by Republicans:

The Florida Federation of Republican Women made the decision to boycott the Oprah Winfrey Show Saturday, after the media mogul refused to have Gov. Sarah Palin as a guest on her show until after the election wraps up.

"Women in Florida helped build Oprah into the icon she is today," Linda Ivell, President of the FFRW said in a statement. "We are deeply disappointed in Ms. Winfrey's decision to sit out the greatest political moment in the history of women since suffrage."

The talk show host denied accusations Friday, that she was even considering the vice presidential nominee as a guest.

"At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a plat for any of the candidates," Winfrey wrote in a statement, responding to a story from The Drudge report claiming her staff was "sharply divided" on whether they should book the Alaska Governor. [...]

The Florida Federation of Republican Women, the "largest political organization in Florida," celebrating the groups 58 year anniversary is also encouraging members to cancel subscriptions to O Magazine, Ivell said.

Oh, but it's only temporary. They're just angry for now. It's just a pretend boycott:

Ivell did not say the Florida Republicans would be tuning out indefinitely, but at least until 'after the election.' Adding, she and her members respect the decision to support Obama, "as every American is entitled to their personal opinion and vote."

So it's okay with them if Oprah decides not to invite Obama or McCain, but if she turns SledDog Sarah down, she has somehow betrayed them. Yeah, that makes sense.

Obama's media boycott about to be discussed on MSNBC

By GottaLaff

Re: Yesterday's campaign. Somebody in Comments yesterday asked if it would make the news. It's about to, if you're watching MSNBC. Dan Abrams is about to report on it.

Abrams had a laugh in his voice when he announced Obama's "launching a criminal investigation."

Jon Decker of Reuters is on. Abrams says it's not a legal response so much as a political response by announcing the investigation. It's a way to make their point, he says.

Decker says to respond with more hard-hitting ads, not lawsuits. Abrams says they did (I missed the response ad).