For Immediate Release
September 9, 2009
Contact: Brandon Hatler --
DumpGlennBeck@gmail.com
Six New Companies,
Including the USPS, Humana Pledge Not to Run Additional Ads on Fox News
Channel's Glenn Beck
62 Companies
Now Boycotting the Controversial Host
OAKLAND, Calif.--ColorOfChange.org
today confirmed that six new companies whose ads aired recently during
Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck program have pledged to not to run ads
on the show going forward. The additions -- Aegon, Ashley Furniture,
Humana, Luxottica Retail (retail parent of LensCrafters and Pearle Vision),
United States Postal Service and Wyeth Consumer Healthcare -- bring
the number of companies boycotting Glenn Beck to 62. ColorofChange.org
launched its campaign against Beck last month 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.
Comments from advertisers recently
distancing themselves from Beck:
"The Postal Service's Advertising Department purchased a block of
advertising time from FOX and FOX placed some of our ad time during
this program," said Sandra Latham, a spokesperson for USPS, in an
email to ColorOfChange.org. "We contacted FOX when the issue occurred
several weeks ago and advised FOX to not use our allotted ads during
this program."
In a phone conversation with
ColorOfChange.org on Thursday, Luca Biondodillo, Senior Vice President
of International Corporate Communications for Lenscrafters/Pearle Vision/Luxottica
Retail, confirmed their recent drop from Glenn Beck's show. "We
pulled our advertising," said Biondodillo. "We are no longer advertising
on that show and we have no plans to do any more advertising on that
show."
"We have ordered them not to air our ads during his [Beck's] program,"
said Mark Mathis, a spokesman for Humana, in a phone conversation with
ColorOfChange.org on Thursday.
"Our advertisements are no
longer running during The Glenn Beck Show," said Linda Mayer,
Assistant Vice President of Corporate Communications at Wyeth Consumer
Healthcare, in an email to ColorOfChange.org.
"Our advertising was already
pulled from that particular program before you contacted me, and the
last possible day any ads could have been run ([given] lead time required
in the contract) was September 4," said Pat Baird, a spokesperson
for Aegon, in an email to ColorOfChange.org.
In an email to ColorOfChange.org,
Kendra Maggert, a spokesperson for Ashley Furniture confirmed that a
statement posted on MediaMatters.org [http://mediamatters.org/blog/200908280025] was authentic and that Ashley Furniture
has requested that their ads not run during the Glenn Beck show.
Last month, ColorOfChange.org called on its members to sign a petition
urging companies who advertise on Glenn Beck to cut off their advertising
support of his work. Over 180,000 people have signed the petition.
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,
Applebee's, AT&T, Bank of America, Best Buy, Blaine Labs Inc.,
Broadview Security, Campbell Soup Company, ConAgra, Clorox, CVS, DirecTv,
Ditech, The Elations Company, Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com),
Farmers Insurance Group, GEICO, General Mills, Johnson & Johnson
(makers of Tylenol), Kraft, Lawyers.com, Lowe's, Men's Wearhouse,
NutriSystem, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, RadioShack,
Re-Bath, Regions Financial Corporation, Roche, Sam (Store and Move),
SC Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Sargento, Sprint, State Farm Insurance,
Traveler's Insurance, Travelocity, The UPS Store, Verizon Wireless,
Vonage 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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