Advertisers skittish over Imus scandal, pull ads

[deminks]

Source: Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Companies including Staples Inc. are pulling their advertisements from Don Imus' show due to the furor over the shock jock's on-air racial slur about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Imus has apologized for referring to members of the team as "nappy-headed hos" on his April 4 show. CBS Radio and NBC Universal, which broadcasts the show on MSNBC cable television, suspended the popular personality for two weeks, beginning next Monday.

But that was not enough to satisfy Staples, the world's largest office supplies retailer, which had recently sponsored the Imus MSNBC TV show.

"Based on recent comments that were made on the show, it prompted us to kind of take a look at our decision to advertise and as a result we decided to stop advertising on that program," Staples spokesman Paul Capelli said.

Read more: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyid=2007-04-11T001721Z_01_N10415025_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-RACE-IMUS-ADS.xml

---

Bigelow Tea, Carat USA have pulled ads. The publishers, which represent a large number of guests, are watching on a "case by case" basis.

Let the advertisers know what you think, America. Like the Rutger's coach said, it's about the color green.

[Demeter]

1. The Real Marketplace Talks

About time, too.

[Berry Cool]

2. I think this means you can stick the fork in Imus.

Once advertisers start bailing on you--big ones--that's all she wrote.

[Solo_in_MD]

7. Pickets, blogs and even Rev Al are irrelevant in the equation, however the $ aren't

[ShortnFiery]

11. Good! If enough advertisers pull out, it will give gutless NBC the cover to fire Imus. n/t

[Joe Bacon]

19. Money Talks and I-Mus-be-out-of touch-with-reality Walks!

Bye, Don!

We'll see you where you belong, homeless with a squeegee!

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Wow this story just refuses to die

It is really amazing.

[youngdem]

5. I think Imus has simply become a symbol of the hate/shock media that many are tired of

There were no doubt HUNDREDS of worse comments made by Hannity, Limbaugh, et al this week. This just attracted the perfect storm and people are I think getting tired of shock media, and hunger for a little civility and substance.

That, and my tin foil hat is telling me that this story has done its job in knocking the US Atty scandal off the front pages.

[INdemo]

4. while they're pulling ads why not just have an all out spring cleaning and

pull the ads for Slimbaugh,Insanity,Beck,Savage,and keep the garbage can lid open.....because these so called hosts are as guilty as Imus.

[tanyev]

6. Good. The money is the only thing that really talks.

If Imus starts losing money, they'll dump him faster than Dick Cheney's trigger finger.

[aaronbees]

8. What a welcome development

Hope more follow suit. In the marketplace, open, continuous displays of bigotry and sexism should not be tolerated and supported through ad $$$$$ - glad companies see that.

[LiberalFighter]

9. Advertisers Pull Out of Imus Show (Washington Post)

Advertisers Pull Out of Imus Show
'I Don't Deserve to Be Fired,' Says the Shock Jock, Under Attack for Slur
4/11/2007

As skittish advertisers began to pull out and calls for his resignation reverberated, embattled shock jock Don Imus yesterday continued a campaign of contrition over racially and sexually insensitive remarks he made, even while insisting that he shouldn't lose his national television show and syndicated radio program.

/snip/

"I don't deserve to be fired," Imus, 67, said yesterday during his show. "So I should be punished, and I'm being punished, and not insignificantly, by the way. I'm not whining, because I don't feel as bad as those kids feel."

Imus's comments came a few hours before an emotional news conference by the Rutgers team. Her players seated next to her, their faces fixed with grim expressions, Rutgers Coach C. Vivian Stringer told the assembled reporters, "We have all been physically and emotionally spent and hurt" by Imus's remarks, which she called "deplorable, despicable and abominable and unconscionable." The team's players said they would meet with Imus.

/snip/

As early as 1982, former Imus employer WNBC in New York promoted him and co-worker Howard Stern as radio bad boys. The pair blazed a trail for a generation of shock jocks, including Doug "Greaseman" Tracht, who was fired from Washington's WARW in 1999 for uttering a racist remark on-air, and Opie and Anthony, a New York duo fired in 2002 for a stunt involving a Virginia couple allegedly having sex in a Manhattan church.

[NastyRiffraff]

10. Let's REWARD the advertisers who pulled out

Either by shopping there (Staples), buying products (Bigelow Tea) or simply writing to thank them. Let them know why you're shopping with them.

We're good at asking advertisers to pull out; we need to get better at following up when they do.

[ShortnFiery]

12. Yes, here is contact information ...

For Bigelow Tea http://www.bigelowtea.com/contact/

and Staples http://www.staples.com/sbd/content/help/contact/other_quest.html

[NastyRiffraff]

13. Thanks for posting that, ShortnFiery

writing 'em right now.

[ShortnFiery]

14. You're welcome :-).

Be careful not to spend any time on that Bigelow site if you are on a tight budget. We're getting ready to pay the tax-man so I'm just looking and dreaming of having some of those tea sets on their site. That Spanish Tea set is calling me by name - but I'm going to have to wait until next month to liberate it. :blush: ;)

[Judi Lynn]

15. ShortnFiery, you are just what the doctor ordered! Thank you so much

for providing the links to Bigelow and Staples. They are such great companies it's almost a shock to know they were sponsoring him at ALL, but the fact they are backing away from him now is TREMENDOUS.

If he's ever sober anymore, he may notice these companies are nothing to scoff at. They are biggies. I hope it scares the bejeezus outta him.

It was wonderful getting a chance to e-mail them. I hope a ton of DU'ers see your links and contact them, too.

[deminks]

16. Thank you for posting!

Bookmarked and writing them.

I see gifts from both sites this year!

[City Lights]

21. Thanks for those, ShortnFiery!

:yourock:

I not only thanked them for pulling ads from Imus, I encouraged them to refuse sponsorship to any hate mongers.

[robcon]

17. I don't think Imus's show will recover from this.

It's hard to believe very many new advertisers will surface, after the publicity about his racism. His show is headed for the toilet.

[Zandor]

18. Flagrantly and unquestionably racist and sexist

Anything less than him losing his job is not satifactory.

[Eurobabe]

20. Good, I'd love to send an email to the companies that

are boycotting.

[SpeedwayDemocrat]

22. Just sent a note to Staples...

thanking them for pulling the ads. I reminded them that women make the majority of retail buying decisions in the U.S., and that Imus's show has been consistently demeaning to women. There are many, many other office supply stores out there, and they can't afford to take a huge financial hit from a massive boycott.

TIP: If you write them, be sure to include the number of your Staples Rewards card in the box marked "Customer Number." It can be found beneath the bar code on your Rewards card. That helps them identify where you are shopping geographically and proves to them that you are indeed a customer of theirs, concerned about this situation. I'm in conservative Indiana, and they need to know that even those of us trapped in the "Land of the Idiot Pence" will vote with our dollars.

Can anyone point me to a comprehensive list online of all the Imus advertisers? I'd like to send them a piece of my mind as well...
THANKS!

[Eugene]

23. Don Imus show loses more advertisers (GM, Glaxo, 2 more pending)

Source: Reuters

Don Imus show loses more advertisers

39 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors and drug maker GlaxoSmithKline
pulled their advertising from shows hosted by Don Imus on Wednesday,
striking a blow to the shock-jock and broadcasters who carry him.

American Express and Home loans Web site Ditech.com also said they
would withdraw their ads.

They joined companies including household products maker Procter &
Gamble Co. and office supplies retailer Staples Inc. in pulling their
support amid an outcry over an on-air racial slur by Imus about the
Rutgers University women's basketball team.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070411/us_nm/usa_race_imus_ads_dc