Advertisers abandon Beck

[Crossroads Inc.]

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By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer – Mon Aug 24, 10:18 am ET
NEW YORK – Glenn Beck returns to Fox News Channel on Monday after a vacation with fewer companies willing to advertise on his show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling President Barack Obama a racist.
A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago.

While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows.
The Clorox Co., a former Beck advertiser, now says that "we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts." The maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that it has decided not to advertise on political talk shows.

The shows present a dilemma for advertisers, who usually like a "safe" environment for their messages. The Olbermanns, Hannitys, O'Reillys, Maddows and Becks of the TV world are more likely to say something that will anger a viewer, who might take it out on sponsors.

They also host the most-watched programs on their networks.

"This is a good illustration of that conundrum," said Rich Hallabran, spokesman for UPS Stores, which he said has temporarily halted buying ads on Fox News Channel as a whole.

Beck can bring the eyeballs. With the health care debate raising political temperatures, his show had its biggest week ever right before his vacation, averaging 2.4 million viewers each day, according to Nielsen Media Research.
He was actually on another Fox show July 28 when he referred to Obama as a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." The network immediately distanced itself from Beck's statement, but Beck didn't. He used his radio show the next day to explain why he believed that. He would not comment for this article, spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said.

ColorofChange.org quickly targeted companies whose ads had appeared during Beck's show, telling them what he had said and seeking a commitment to drop him. The goal is to make Beck a liability, said James Rucker, the organization's executive director.

"They have a toxic asset," Rucker said. "They can either clean it up or get rid of it."

It's not immediately clear how many of the companies actually knew they were advertising on Beck's show. Sometimes commercial time is chosen for a specific show, but often it is bought on a rotation basis, meaning the network sprinkles the ads throughout the day on its own schedule. Sometimes ads appear by mistake; Best Buy said it bought commercial time for earlier in the day, and one of its ads unexpectedly appeared in Beck's show.
One company, CVS Caremark, said it advertises on Fox but hadn't said anything about Beck. Now it has told its advertising agency to inform Fox that it wanted no commercials on Beck.

"We support vigorous debate, especially around policy issues that affect millions of Americans, but we expect it to be informed, inclusive and respectful," said spokeswoman Carolyn Castel.

Besides the unpredictability of the opinionated cable hosts, the rapid pace of today's wired world complicates decisions on where to place ads, said Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokeswoman for Sprint. She said she was surprised at how fast the Beck issue spread across social media outlets and how quickly advertiser names were attached to it.
UPS' Hallabran said the decision to pull commercials "should not be interpreted as we are permanently withdrawing our advertising from Fox." He said the company wants to reach viewers with a wide spectrum of opinions.
Except for UPS Stores, there's no evidence that any advertisers who say they don't want to be on Beck's show are leaving Fox. Network spokeswoman Irena Briganti said the companies have simply requested the ads be moved elsewhere and that Fox hasn't lost any revenue.

She wouldn't say whether Fox was benefiting from any anti-anti-Beck backlash, with companies looking to support him. Some Beck supporters have urged fans to express their displeasure at companies for abandoning their man.
Beck supporters have suggested that retaliation might have something to do with ColorofChange.org's campaign. One of the group's founders, Van Jones, now works in the Obama administration and has been criticized by Beck. But Rucker said Jones has nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn't even know about the campaign before it started.

Beck's strong ratings — even at 5 p.m. EDT he often outdraws whatever CNN and MSNBC show in prime-time — make it unlikely Beck is going anywhere even as the list of advertisers avoiding him approaches three dozen.
But it could mean advertising time becomes cheaper on his show than such a large audience would normally command. Some of his show's advertisers last week included a male enhancement pill, a law firm looking to sue on behalf of asbestos victims, a company selling medical supplies to diabetics and a water filter company.
Rucker said ColorofChange.org has contacted about 60 companies regarding Beck, and is heartened by the response.
"It's causing a certain conversation around Beck, which I think is important," he said.

Ive' ahead about people trying to get advertisers to Beck Limbaigh and others pulled for quite a While, But I wasn't aware it was actually having an effect, I have to say I am pleasantly surprised by this.

[Force Lord]

Conservatards screaming "EVIL LIBERAL MEDIA!!!" in 3, 2, 1...

[Darth Wong]

These shows have almost no operating costs anyway. They're enormously profitable even if some of the advertisers do pull out. Seriously, how much does it cost to run a TV show where the only real cost is the star's salary, and all he does is opine about stuff any of us can read in the newspaper?

[General Zod]

I'm kind of amazed Walmart would drop him. I thought they had basically zero ethical standards?

[Straha]

These shows have almost no operating costs anyway. They're enormously profitable even if some of the advertisers do pull out. Seriously, how much does it cost to run a TV show where the only real cost is the star's salary, and all he does is opine about stuff any of us can read in the newspaper?

It's a relative cost. If Fox can fill the time they give to Beck with a different stuffed shirt with half the salary and make four times the money from advertisers then they're insane to keep Beck around. Especially when News Corp. is in the Red and needs to increase profits.

[thejester]

It's not a question of ethics. Advertisers are afraid that viewers will be angered by Beck's comments and then will transfer that negative feeling onto them when the ads come up.

[open_sketchbook]

Get off my airwaves, you stupid pinhead!

Good on these ColourofChange.org folks. Beck is an ignorant racist idiot and should be treated as such.

[Kodiak]

I'm kind of amazed Walmart would drop him. I thought they had basically zero ethical standards?

If you've ever seen the WalMart demographic you'll admit they cannot afford to alienate minorities with racially charged speech.

[RRoan]

That loon actually called Obama racist?

[Darth Wong]

That loon actually called Obama racist?

Yes. Obama came down on the side of Professor Gates, so the Beck walrus accused him of "having a deep-seated hatred for white people". About five minutes later, he denied ever saying Obama dislikes white people. Apparently, he does not realize that these TV shows are actually recorded.

[sketerpot]

That loon actually called Obama racist?

Yes. Obama came down on the side of Professor Gates, so the Beck walrus accused him of "having a deep-seated hatred for white people". About five minutes later, he denied ever saying Obama dislikes white people. Apparently, he does not realize that these TV shows are actually recorded.

Or he figures that most of his audience are too lazy to check it, and that the news media will report the allegations of racism against him and then quote his denial to add balance, then give equal weight to the reality opinion and the fiction opinion. And then in a month or so everybody will have forgotten about the specifics of the incident; liberals will dislike him more, and conservatives will cry persecution.

You remember the Bush administration; you know how this conservative scandal thing goes. (At least, unless the conservative public figure does something really heinous, like being gay.)

[Civil War Man]

That loon actually called Obama racist?

Yes. Obama came down on the side of Professor Gates, so the Beck walrus accused him of "having a deep-seated hatred for white people". About five minutes later, he denied ever saying Obama dislikes white people. Apparently, he does not realize that these TV shows are actually recorded.

To quote Stephen Colbert: He didn't say Obama dislikes white people. He said that Obama had a deep-seated hatred for white people. It's like the difference between putting your foot in your mouth and sticking your head up your ass.

[SpacedTeddyBear]

I'm kind of amazed Walmart would drop him. I thought they had basically zero ethical standards?

They don't, but their customers ( depending on geographical location) sometimes do. That and Walmart customers tend to be ethnic minorities, at least where I live.

[Pelranius]

I'm kind of amazed Walmart would drop him. I thought they had basically zero ethical standards?

They don't, but their customers ( depending on geographical location) sometimes do. That and Walmart customers tend to be ethnic minorities, at least where I live.

The problem is, do the people who shop at Wal Mart, regardless of ethnicity, really have alternatives to Wal Mart in this economic climate? Nevertheless, I'm the last person to complain about Wal Mart pulling out the rug from Beck walrus.

[Glocksman]

I'm kind of amazed Walmart would drop him. I thought they had basically zero ethical standards?

They don't, but their customers ( depending on geographical location) sometimes do. That and Walmart customers tend to be ethnic minorities, at least where I live.

The problem is, do the people who shop at Wal Mart, regardless of ethnicity, really have alternatives to Wal Mart in this economic climate? Nevertheless, I'm the last person to complain about Wal Mart pulling out the rug from Beck walrus.

Walmart isn't all that much cheaper than the regional chain groceries in the area and in fact has less selection to choose from if you're concerned about variety.

The reasons I do shop at Walmart are twofold.
One is the liberal return policies on even big ticket items.

I had an easier time returning a $700 TV to Walmart than I would have if I'd bought the same set from a local retailer, if for no other reason than that I left Walmart with the cash in my pocket as opposed to waiting for a refund check to arrive in the mail.

The other reason is operating hours.

I work an odd shift (4PM-2:30AM Mon-Thursday) and oftentimes I like to get my shopping done after I leave work.
Walmart is the only local grocer that's open 24/7.

There used to be other local grocery chains that had 24hr stores, but over the last few years they started closing at 11PM.

[Pelranius]

Walmart isn't all that much cheaper than the regional chain groceries in the area and in fact has less selection to choose from if you're concerned about variety.

The reasons I do shop at Walmart are twofold.
One is the liberal return policies on even big ticket items.

I had an easier time returning a $700 TV to Walmart than I would have if I'd bought the same set from a local retailer, if for no other reason than that I left Walmart with the cash in my pocket as opposed to waiting for a refund check to arrive in the mail.

The other reason is operating hours.

I work an odd shift (4PM-2:30AM Mon-Thursday) and oftentimes I like to get my shopping done after I leave work.
Walmart is the only local grocer that's open 24/7.

There used to be other local grocery chains that had 24hr stores, but over the last few years they started closing at 11PM.

I was able to exchange and then return a fridge about two months after the purchase, so at least they have that saving grace going for them. Now that I think about it, the Wal Mart in Maine wasn't much cheaper than the super markets or other retail stores.

So Wal Mart essentially offers convenience as well as a brand name of sorts?

[Straha]

Beck attacks the people who organized the boycott as revolutionary friends of Obama. Bent on overthrowing the government.

[Kodiak]

Glenn Beck used his popular Fox News show this afternoon to attack the background of Van Jones, a White House environmental advisor who co-founded an African American political advocacy group that organized an advertising boycott of his program.

During his 2 p.m. PDT show, Beck did not address the boycott spearheaded by Color of Change to protest the talk show host’s remark last month that he believes President Obama is “a racist.”

Instead, he spent a large share of his program suggesting that Jones, who co-founded Color of Change in 2005, is a radical. Jones now serves as a special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

During a six-minute biographical profile, set to ominous music, Beck said Jones was twice arrested for political protests and has described himself as a "rowdy black nationalist." The talk show host cast the piece as part of a broader examination of Obama's "czars," special advisers to the president who "don't answer to anybody."

"Why is it that such a committed revolutionary has made it so high into the Obama administration as one of his chief advisers?" Beck asked.

Christine Glunz, a spokeswoman for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, noted that Jones has been lauded as an environmental hero and said his entire focus is on “building clean energy incentives which create 21st-century jobs.”

“Glenn Beck is trying to change the subject,” said James Rucker, executive director of Color of Change, who noted that Jones has not been active with the group in almost two years. “The issue is his baseless fear mongering.”

Beck has gone after Jones in the past. On July 28, he called the activist a "self-professed communist" and questioned the role he was playing in the administration. His latest assault on Jones came as Color of Change announced that it has secured commitments from 36 companies who have pledged not to advertise on Beck’s popular program, including Wal-Mart and Sprint. However, some of the companies never had a presence on "Glenn Beck." Representatives of Procter & Gamble and AT&T – listed by Color of Change as companies that had signed onto the boycott – told The Times that their companies did not run spots on Beck’s program to begin with.

While the advertising boycott has generated substantial media coverage, Fox News said it has not impacted the network’s revenues or Beck’s audience. "The advertisers referenced have all moved their spots from Beck to other programs on the network so there has been no revenue lost," a spokeswoman said.

Since his Fox News show launched in January, Beck has attracted a sizable audience with his strident denunciations of the Obama administration and apocalyptic warnings about the country’s direction. Late last month, during an appearance on the morning show “Fox & Friends,” he accused Obama of having “a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.”

“This guy is, I believe, a racist,” he added.

The flap that ensued did not appear to dampen Beck’s viewership. This month, his show has averaged 2.25 million viewers, 99% more than tuned in during the same period last year, when the network aired “America’s Election HQ” during the time period. And his ratings are up from July, when Beck's program averaged 2.05 million viewers. Fan websites such as Defend Glenn have called for viewers to fight back against the advertising boycott, and some media veterans have denounced the tactic as a suppression of free speech.

The controversy has triggered a broader discussion about the risks to advertisers of running commercials amid the incendiary rhetoric of cable talk shows. Clorox announced last week that it was pulling its ads off all political talk shows.

"We do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show host,” the company said in a statement. “After a comprehensive review of political talks shows across the spectrum, at this time we have made a decision not to advertise on them. Clorox has done very little advertising on political talk shows overall, and given the sometimes inflammatory nature of these shows, we feel our advertising investment is best directed elsewhere.”

The article from the link in Straha's post.

[raptor3x]

I'm just watching Glenn Beck's show for the first time and it's just like reading the comments at Free Republic but with video, amazing.

[Mr Bean]

I'm just watching Glenn Beck's show for the first time and it's just like reading the comments at Free Republic but with video, amazing.

Just wait, every week Beck gets better, he loves to step up the crazy, search youtube for some of his classics like the poring gasoline(just water out of a gas-can) over a producer to demonstrate his views on Obama's policies. Or the even creeper Beck plays pretend has has another producer were a Nancy Pelosi mask while he "talks" to her.

Beck is without question... either one of two things
1. A showman doing some Emmy winning work pretending to be bat shit crazy
2. Bat shit crazy

[CmdrWilkens]

These shows have almost no operating costs anyway. They're enormously profitable even if some of the advertisers do pull out. Seriously, how much does it cost to run a TV show where the only real cost is the star's salary, and all he does is opine about stuff any of us can read in the newspaper?

It's a relative cost. If Fox can fill the time they give to Beck with a different stuffed shirt with half the salary and make four times the money from advertisers then they're insane to keep Beck around. Especially when News Corp. is in the Red and needs to increase profits.

Following up a bit, belatedly, on this: these shows have tons of costs that aren't automatically apparent. There is of course the opportunity cost that Straha mentioned but graphics, tehnical operations, and basic supporting staff for any professional television show attach to the show. Between producers, directors, picture, sound, hair/amkeup and other technical or non-technical support staff even a one man show like Beck's has a couple dozen folks whose salaries are tied to the production cost. He certainly doesn't have the travel and editorial costs that some news programs carry (rather obvious on the editorial end) but it isn't cheap to put a broadcast show on the air even if Beck represents the lower end of the spectrum in terms of cost.

[Patrick Degan]

I'm just watching Glenn Beck's show for the first time and it's just like reading the comments at Free Republic but with video, amazing.

Just wait, every week Beck gets better, he loves to step up the crazy, search youtube for some of his classics like the poring gasoline(just water out of a gas-can) over a producer to demonstrate his views on Obama's policies. Or the even creeper Beck plays pretend has has another producer were a Nancy Pelosi mask while he "talks" to her.

Beck is without question... either one of two things
1. A showman doing some Emmy winning work pretending to be bat shit crazy
2. Bat shit crazy

Five-thousand quatloos on Option 2.

[Pelranius]

Beck might have a ridiculously high severance package which would preclude firing him unless he was caught up in some assassination plot, and maybe not even then.

[Natorgator]

The boycott is pointless, the advertisers are only having their commercials run on different shows so there is no difference in revenue. Given the fact that Beck is HUGELY popular, there's no way in hell Fox would ever let him go. And shit, the very fact that he's being boycotted will make him even more popular to his demographic.

[Mr Bean]

The boycott is pointless, the advertisers are only having their commercials run on different shows so there is no difference in revenue. Given the fact that Beck is HUGELY popular, there's no way in hell Fox would ever let him go. And shit, the very fact that he's being boycotted will make him even more popular to his demographic.

You obviously have no idea how TV executives think. I can name quite a few shows that were popular that got yanked by large boycotts. The last two being Bill Maher and Phil donahue who were both axed after saying negative things, having a boycott organized and both lost their shows despite being some of the most popular figures on their network. Or how about Don Imus who get a suspension via the same tatics despite the fact that Imus has a highly loyal following and a large one?

News executives like controversy, but they have their limits. Once Beck becomes a hindrance rather than an asset, they will kick him to the curb faster than you can say FEMA prison camps.