Big Bad Man Limbaugh Looses 21 Advertisers
At least 21 companies have pulled their ads from the “The Rush Limbaugh Show” since the conservative talk show host called a law student a “slut” on the air last week, as the social media blitz against the popular radio program showed no signs of slowing down Tuesday.
Companies are continuing to join the rapidly growing list of businesses that have ceased advertising on Limbaugh’s show, responding to the flood of grievances that are pouring in from disgruntled customers.
Continue Reading“AccuQuote has instructed our media agency to immediately pull all our advertising campaigns that support Rush Limbaugh. His recent comments do not reflect the values of AccuQuote,” AccuQuote Life Insurance announced late Monday on its Facebook page.
The list of companies that officially announced on Twitter or Facebook that they would stop advertising on the radio show include: AccuQuote Life Insurance, Allstate Insurance, AOL, Bare Escentuals, Bonobos, Carbonite, Citrix, Hadeed Carpet, Legal Zoom, PolyCom, ProFlowers, Quicken Loans, Sears, Sensa, Service Magic, Sleep Train, Sleep Number, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Tax Resolution, Thompson Creek Windows and Vitacost.
Polycom, a telecommunications company based in California, said early Tuesday that it had “no intention to run ads on the Rush Limbaugh Show” through its syndicated radio advertising. “The recent comments by Mr. Limbaugh go against our core values, and we have taken action to discontinue advertising on this program,” a statement read on Polycom’s Facebook page.
Limbaugh was condemned by members of the public and the media as well as elected officials after calling third-year Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” last week. But in the immediate days following Wednesday’s remarks, the radio personality had shown no signs of apologizing to Fluke as he continued his barrage against her on Thursday and Friday.
By the end of the week, President Barack Obama had personally called the law student to check if she was ok, and advertisers had started to pull their ads from the radio show as the public launched a social media blitz against the program.
On Saturday, Limbaugh issued a written statement apologizing for calling the Fluke offensive words, and explained the reasoning for his apology on his show Monday.
He also addressed the withdrawal of advertisers from his program, saying, “Now they’ve chosen to deny themselves that access. That’s a business decision and it’s theirs alone to make. They’ve decided they don’t want you or your business anymore. So be it.”
On his show Tuesday, Limbaugh made no mention of the Fluke incident during the first segment of his show as he ranted about the “war on women” made up by the liberal media.
“What there is, is a war on freedom. There’s a war on freedom being raged daily from the White House, it’s being orchestrated by Obama,” he said. “And not just religious freedom. Freedom of everybody, including women.”
Rachel Nelson, public relations director of Premiere Networks, which syndicates Limbaugh’s show and has ignored repeated phone calls since Friday, emailed POLITICO this statement early Tuesday:
“Premiere Networks is committed to providing its listeners with access to a broad range of opinion and commentary without condoning or agreeing with the opinions, comments or attempts at humor expressed by on-air talent. We respect the right of Mr. Limbaugh, as well as the rights of those who disagree with him, to express those opinions.”
The statement continued, “The contraception debate is one that sparks strong emotion and opinions on both sides of the issue. Last week, in an attempt at absurdist humor to illustrate his political point, Mr. Limbaugh used words that unfortunately distracted from the message he was trying to convey. We believe he did the right thing on Saturday, and again on his radio show on Monday, by expressing regret for his choice of words and offering his sincere and heartfelt apology to Ms. Fluke.”
politico.com
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