Rush Limbaugh, AOL Part Ways

[maddezmom]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- AOL, the parent company of The Huffington Post, has become the eighth advertiser to pulls its money from Rush Limbaugh's syndicated radio program since he called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, who spoke out in favor of contraception coverage, a "slut" and a "prostitute" last week.

"At AOL one of our core values is that we act with integrity," said Maureen Sullivan, an AOL spokeswoman. "We have monitored the unfolding events and have determined that Mr. Limbaugh’s comments are not in line with our values. As a result we have made the decision to suspend advertising on The Rush Limbaugh Radio show."

Limbaugh issued an apology for his comments on Saturday, but that has not stopped advertisers from continuing to sever ties with his program. ProFlowers and Carbonite both left the show after he said he was sorry.

"No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show," Carbonite CEO David Friend said in a statement. "We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse."


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/rush-limbaugh-aol-advertisers_n_1321260.html

[kysrsoze]

1. Yet another! YAY!

[denverbill]

2. Mr Friend stated the issue very well. Good for AOL. n/t

[SemperEadem]

3. suspend as opposed to end...

I question the meaning of "suspend"... does that mean that once this blows over, they will resume advertising on his program? That's not going far enough, IMO. Saying "we have ended our advertising on his program" carries way more weight. What the gentleman from Carbonite said is what I want to hear--otherwise, it's just a case of them just hedging their bets for when this has lost its traction.

[gateley]

4. Agree. nt

[nobodyspecial]

8. That's why we need to keep monitoring it

I think you are right about hedging bets

[Marrah_G]

9. Suspend may be wording for legal reasons

There might be something in the contract etc, that causes them to use that term.

[SemperEadem]

17. I highly doubt that

if that were the case, then they'd have said that. "due to contractual obligations, blah blah blah..." They didn't.

No, it sounds more like they're waiting for this to blow over and they'll sneak back in and resume advertising. Except it's not going to blow over anytime soon.

[Marrah_G]

19. I was just giving a possible scenario

I am hoping all the letters and calls to advertisers will take him off the air for good.

[Scairp]

30. Very good point

We should keep an eye on that after it does start to fade.

[kestrel91316]

5. A temporary suspension is NOT good enough.

[crunch60]

6. CANCEL, END, FOREVER. THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO HEAR!

[ladywnch]

7. yeah, another company 'suspending' their advertising.....not dropping.

ProFlowers is only 'suspending' their advertising for ONE WHOLE WEEK!!! wow......that'll show 'em!!!!!!!

I wonder how long AOL is going to 'punish' Rush for.........10 days........ooooooooooooooo

I've not had any use for AOL for years but they get no credit for this move.......not this long after the event and this weak a response.

As I told ProFlowers when I 'closed my account' with them: just as when I hear the phrase 'nappy headed hos' think I Don IMUS, I now will forever see Rush Limbaugh when I hear ProFlowers (and now AOL). I'm sure that's what ProFlowers wants to hear. I hope ProFlowers and Rush have a long happy relationship together.

ProFlowers can claim all they want that they 'aren't political' but when you spend your advertising dollars supporting a political show..............YOUR POLITICAL.

[RufusTFirefly]

11. Few fields rival marketing for sheer cynicism

ProFlowers can generate warm fuzzies for suspending their account and then when our notoriously short-attention-spanned media moves on, they can resume their lucrative contract, banking on the fact that few people will remember, notice, or care.

[Scairp]

37. I am highly pissed

I sent Pro Flowers a nice response about how wonderful it was that they pulled advertising from the fat man's program, and they played me for a sucker. I have sent them another, not so nice email calling them cowards and letting them know no more of my dollars will be spent on flowers or gifts or anything else from any of their brands. For the record they are also Red Envelope, Pro Plants, PersonalCreations, Cherry Moon Farms and Shari's Berries.

[Courtesy Flush]

16. I can see where AOL would want to hang on to dittoheads

After all, who else would use AOL?

[Populist_Prole]

24. Man, aint THAT the truth!

Seems like their biggest demographic are computer illiterate angry conservatives in the late autumn of their years.

My VERY right wing ( and MAJOR dittohead ) father is like their archetype user. Very loyal to them for whatever reason. His head will about explode now I guess.................

[gauguin57]

27. I still use AOL for emails that Verizon is too lame to send properly.

I have had nothing but problems with my Internet service provider, Verizon; I can't wait till my contract is up.

I still have my original AOL email address, and it works like a trouper. I can send huge files to weird email addresses, and never have a problem.

(all that said, I wouldn't use their browser or go into their chat rooms if you put a gun to my head. scary, scary people in there!)

Verizon messes everything up, and sends everyone trying to email me an error message (even though the emails go through). Tech support gives me less than no help.

I loathe Comcast, but I'm going to try them next. If that doesn't work, I'm going off the grid.

(I only use G-mail for things I don't want anyone other than the recipient to know about, since I'm convinced the folks at Google are reading all of our emails and collecting them to use against us someday.)

[RufusTFirefly]

10. An awful lot of pain, misery, and bigotry could be resolved by the Golden Rule

In this case, the Carbonite CEO was able to appreciate this abomination because he has two daughters Sandra Fluke's age. I only wish we as a country could extend this sort of empathy to include considering how we would feel if an unrepentant empire invaded our country, killed our citizens, destroyed our cities, and made off with our resources.

[TruthBeTold65]

12. Good News...

unlike listening to Eric Cantor on MSNBC the other day where he was happy with "Rush apologized". Really?! Perhaps you should stand up for something other than your RepubliCON talking points and realize that the person did not deserve Rush's vile comments. Granted we all expect that from Rush but from Eric Cantor, a representative of the people, he should have smacked Rush's comments down.

Everyone should disassociate from Rush just as they did with Glenn Beck.

[xtraxritical]

20. Also, the pig apologized for "a poor choice of words" not the actual sentiment

or meaning of those words. Keep the pressure up, it may take months to really hurt the gasbag.

[hughee99]

13. I wonder if AOL called the Limbaugh show

and tried to cancel it's advertising, but the show put them on with a "customer service" representative that wouldn't let them actually cancel the account.

[Jamaal510]

14. All this time, I had no idea that AOL was one of his sponsors.

AOL is where I got my email address from.

[The Last Democrat]

15. This is all good new,

But they should of said they have “Canceled” forever.

So keep the pressure on, Don’t let up, He’s on his way down.

Keep it up.

[Fearless]

18. Keep the calls to sponsors coming!

It's working!

[what0now0toons]

21. "Grotesque & Rude,Rush Limbaugh opens his mouth Again!" ( the new ) "What Now Cartoon"

AOL, Carbonite, and the rest of Rush's advertisers that are standing up for decency on the public airwaves, I salute you. My latest cartoon is about this misogynistic bloated windbag that is polluting
the national discourse ! http://www.whatnowtoons.com
Left of center independent political cartoons!

[Little Star]

22. Wow!!! Good!

[agentS]

23. I'm surprised they didn't drop him earlier.

Rushaa the Hutt has a well referenced history of controversial remarks. About damn time his advertisers took action against him!

[Quasimodem]

25. Beware of the weasel words

Please note the difference between AOL, ProFlowers and Carbonite’s statement.

In an unambiguous appraisal of the controversy, Carbonite stated their decision to withdraw advertising from Limbaugh’s show. But AOL and ProFlowers stated that they have suspended advertising.

Suspended, by definition, means only a temporary stop. They should be encouraged to clarify their position, and not be allowed to duck a controversy using public relations weasel words.

[what0now0toons]

26. Excellent observation

Excellent observation Quasi, I overlooked it my self in my glee that advertisers were fleeing, Carbonite gets a tripple gold star, the rest get the weasel award as you aptly pointed out.
Cheers
KT

[Devil_Fish]

28. Down in flames. Just what he deserves.

[Scairp]

29. I heard from Pro Flowers personally

They are also the gift site Red Envelope, from whom I've ordered many gifts over the years, so I was rather upset when I heard Pro Flowers advertised on the fat asshole's show as well. That's all done at least.

[William769]

33. Who are "YOU PEOPLE"?

Inquiring minds want to know!

[uppityperson]

34. Should we play a bit first? I got impatient, sorry.

[dfherher]

32. Spam deleted by NRaleighLiberal (MIR Team)

[sarcasmo]

36. Douche bags only understand money, right on AOL.

[dsharp88]

38. I want to know the advertisers who are staying with Rush!

[sarcasmo]

39. +1

[sarcasmo]

40. Kick!