For Immediate Release
August 27, 2009
Contact: Brandon Hatler –
DumpGlennBeck@gmail.com
Ten New Companies
Pledge Not to Run Additional Ads on Glenn Beck Program
Vonage, Bank
Of America, Kraft Among Latest To Distance Themselves from FNC Host
as the Network Struggles to Fill Beck’s Advertising Space
OAKLAND, Calif.—Adding to
an increasing list of companies distancing themselves from Fox News
Channel’s Glenn Beck, ten new companies whose ads were recently seen
during Beck’s program—Applebee’s, Bank of America, Bell &
Howell, DirecTv, General Mills, Kraft, Regions Financial Corporation,
SAM (Store and Move), Travelers Insurance and Vonage—have pledged
to take steps to ensure that their ads don’t run on Beck’s show.
Forty-six companies have now committed not to support Beck’s show
since ColorOfChange.org launched its campaign three weeks ago after
the Fox News Channel host called President Obama a “racist” who
“has a deep-seated hatred for white people” during an appearance
on Fox & Friends.
Three of the latest defections—Travelers
Insurance, Bell & Howell and DirecTv—join the list of advertisers
who claim to have already placed Glenn Beck’s program on a “do not
air” list, but whose ads have been seen on Beck’s program, apparently
against their wishes.
“We could not be happier
with the results of our campaign so far,” said James Rucker, Executive
Director of ColorOfChange.org. “All 46 companies that have distanced
themselves from Glenn Beck should be applauded for their stance.”
“We are still reaching out
to companies whose ads we see during Beck’s nightly program,” Rucker
continued. “Based on the fact that many of the recent ads on Beck’s
program are for gold coins and News Corp properties, it looks like Fox
News Channel is struggling to place advertisements on Beck’s show.”
Comments from advertisers recently
distancing themselves from Beck:
“As mentioned before, Applebee’s
regularly evaluates where our advertising appears,” said Miles McMillin,
a spokesperson for Applebee’s Services, Inc., in an email to ColorOfChange.org.
“We strive to reach our diverse group of consumers in many different
advertising venues. We do advertise in programming where various opinions
are debated as we believe discussion about issues important to our country
is very valuable. We expect this discussion to be respectful. As also
pointed out earlier, we have not purchased advertising time on the Glenn
Beck show specifically. However, at this time, we have asked that our
advertising that appears on FOX News not be included on the Glenn Beck
program.”
In an email conversation with
ColorOfChange.org, Joseph L. Goode, Senior Vice-President of Global
Media Relations for Bank of America, confirmed that a statement posted
on MediaMatters.org [http://mediamatters.org/blog/200908250014] was authentic and that any advertisement
placed on the Glenn Beck Program was an error and they would take steps
to correct it.
“We don’t advertise on
Glenn Beck’s show anymore,” said Charlie Sahner, a spokesperson
for Vonage, in an email to ColorOfChange.org.
“I can confirm the authenticity
of the statement published on http://jenkinsear.com/2009/08/20/kraft-foods-drops-glenn-beck/”,
said Valérie Moens, Senior Manager of Corporate Affairs for Kraft Foods
Inc., in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “Kraft Foods has made the
decision to stop advertising on the more politically extreme programs
on all networks. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of
shows with extreme content, including on the political front. These
shows often are controversial and do not align with our company or brand
values. That’s why we have made the decision to stop advertising on
the more politically extreme programs on all networks.”
"We're not an advertiser, that I can tell you," said Tom Forsythe, Vice-President of Corporate Communications for General Mills, in a phone conversation with ColorOfChange.org. "It's not necessarily in response to your campaign. The action has much more to do with the content of the program...Upon hearing your request, I made sure that that was true. But it should have already been true because of the nature of the show."
In an email to ColorOfChange.org, Jon Gieselman, Senior Vice-President of Advertising and Public Relations for DirecTV, Inc., confirmed that their ads should not be running on Glenn Beck's program. "We have actually not purchased national advertising from Fox News during his show since August 3rd, and right now we don't have plans to purchase media in the future," Gieselman said. "We have already clarified our position with Fox News."
“To be clear, the Glenn Beck
program has never been part of our advertising effort,” said Frank
Colangelo, Director of Advertising Research for Travelers Insurance,
in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “Any Travelers advertisements that
ran during that program in the past were due to commercial placement
mistakes by Fox News. In fact we have a standing “no buy” policy
with regard to the program and we have confirmed that fact with Fox
News.”
“We’ve discontinued our
advertising on this program and don’t plan to resume,” said Scott
M. Peters, Chief Marketing Officer for Regions Financial Corporation,
in an email to ColorOfChange.org.
“Our company, SAM (Store
and Move) has complied with your request and “The Glenn beck” show
has been put on the “do not air” list for SAM,” said Nicole Henkel,
a spokesperson for SAM (Store and Move), in an email to ColorOfChange.org.
“While our distributor controls
advertising, we have no plans for ads on this [Glenn Beck’s] program,”
said Hank D’Ambrosio, Vice-President of Administration for Bell &
Howell, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “As I said to you in our
conversation and reiterated in my conversation with our distributor,
in our 102 year history, Bell and Howell has never been involved in
politics or in anything that could be construed as discriminatory in
any way and never will.”
Last week, ColorOfChange.org
began emailing the 150,000+ people who signed their initial petition,
asking them to call five major advertisers who continued to refuse to
pull their ads: Clorox, Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com),
Lowe’s, Red Lobster and Vonage. Hours after members began making calls,
Lowe’s contacted ColorOfChange.org, pledging not to run additional
ads on Beck’s programs. Clorox followed suit Thursday, and Experian
did the same on Friday. Vonage’s recent defection leaves Red Lobster
as the only company in the group that has not yet responded.
Previous companies who have
corrected advertising errors and/or pulled their ads entirely include
Airware Inc. (makers of Brez anti-snoring aids), Allergan (maker of
Restasis), Ally Bank (a unit of GMAC Financial Services), Ancestry.com,
AT&T, Best Buy, Blaine Labs Inc., Broadview Security, Campbell Soup
Company, ConAgra, Clorox, CVS, Ditech, The Elations Company, Experian
(creator of FreeCreditReport.com), Farmers Insurance Group, GEICO, Johnson
& Johnson (makers of Tylenol), Lawyers.com, Lowe’s, Men’s Wearhouse,
NutriSystem, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, RadioShack,
Re-Bath, Roche, SC Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Sargento, Sprint, State
Farm Insurance, Travelocity, The UPS Store, Verizon Wireless and Wal-Mart.
With more than 600,000 members,
ColorOfChange.org is the largest African-American online political organization
in the country.
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