BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Beck Boycott Continues To Expand, As Advertisers Refuse To Support Hate Speech
By MARC McDONALD
When Fox News commentator Glenn Beck called President Obama a "racist," on July 28, he likely had no idea of the firestorm of controversy he was about to unleash.
After all, Fox News (along with HateWing radio and the Wingnut blogosphere) spew out even more extreme hateful rhetoric on a daily basis. In fact, Beck's "Obama is a racist" comment was far from the most offensive and controversial comment that Beck himself has made over the years.
It's a measure of the double standard in our society that the likes of Beck are able to spew all kinds of violent hate speech and never face any sort of reprimand.
And yet, if anyone on the Left makes even a mildly controversial remark, it will dog them to the end of time (and almost certainly end their career). Recall that all Howard Dean ever did was give out an enthusiastic shout to his supporters---and that alone was enough to sink his presidential ambitions. He didn't even say anything controversial, for Chrissakes.
But the Right-Wing these days pretty much about to get away with murder, and face zero repercussions. Beck can call the predominately African-American victims of Katrina "scumbags" and get away with it. He can call the mother of a fallen soldier, Cindy Sheehan, a "slut" and get away with it. He can blandly and chillingly talk about killing Michael Moore and get away with it.
Given all this, Beck probably thought his "Obama is a racist" remark would never generate any controversy. It was, after all, just another typical day on the Right-Wing cesspool of hate, bigotry and intolerance that is Fox News.
But Beck was wrong.
The boycott of Beck's program started very modestly. In August, the grassroots group, ColorOfChange.org, which organized the boycott, announced that three advertisers had agreed to stop supporting Beck's Fox program.
The reaction from the Right-Wing at the time was sarcastic. One commentator at Wingnut site Hot Air scoffed at the idea that the boycott would amount to anything and chuckled at the notion that a boycott supported by only three advertisers would have any sort of impact.
That was then.
How things have changed in the past couple of weeks.
Today, ColorOfChange.org's boycott has grown to 57 advertisers. It has been enormously successful. Although Beck's program remains on the air, he has to be sweating it out these days, as the boycott grows larger and larger.
Although ColorOfChange.org has enjoyed remarkable success in building a boycott, it's clear that there is still much work to be done. We must continue to pressure Beck's remaining advertisers and remind them that we'll not support their products as long as they support a hatemonger like Beck. We must also continue to pressure the existing 57 advertising boycotters to keep their boycott in place, even after this storm of controversy passes.
So who is still advertising on Beck's program? Here is a list of advertisers:
If you don't support fascist Nazi-like hate speech polluting our nation's airwaves, then please don't support these advertisers (and let them know your feelings). For that matter, consider boycotting the cesspool of hate and misinformation that is Fox News. And please: support ColorOfChange.org and sign their online petition.
When Fox News commentator Glenn Beck called President Obama a "racist," on July 28, he likely had no idea of the firestorm of controversy he was about to unleash.
After all, Fox News (along with HateWing radio and the Wingnut blogosphere) spew out even more extreme hateful rhetoric on a daily basis. In fact, Beck's "Obama is a racist" comment was far from the most offensive and controversial comment that Beck himself has made over the years.
It's a measure of the double standard in our society that the likes of Beck are able to spew all kinds of violent hate speech and never face any sort of reprimand.
And yet, if anyone on the Left makes even a mildly controversial remark, it will dog them to the end of time (and almost certainly end their career). Recall that all Howard Dean ever did was give out an enthusiastic shout to his supporters---and that alone was enough to sink his presidential ambitions. He didn't even say anything controversial, for Chrissakes.
But the Right-Wing these days pretty much about to get away with murder, and face zero repercussions. Beck can call the predominately African-American victims of Katrina "scumbags" and get away with it. He can call the mother of a fallen soldier, Cindy Sheehan, a "slut" and get away with it. He can blandly and chillingly talk about killing Michael Moore and get away with it.
Given all this, Beck probably thought his "Obama is a racist" remark would never generate any controversy. It was, after all, just another typical day on the Right-Wing cesspool of hate, bigotry and intolerance that is Fox News.
But Beck was wrong.
The boycott of Beck's program started very modestly. In August, the grassroots group, ColorOfChange.org, which organized the boycott, announced that three advertisers had agreed to stop supporting Beck's Fox program.
The reaction from the Right-Wing at the time was sarcastic. One commentator at Wingnut site Hot Air scoffed at the idea that the boycott would amount to anything and chuckled at the notion that a boycott supported by only three advertisers would have any sort of impact.
That was then.
How things have changed in the past couple of weeks.
Today, ColorOfChange.org's boycott has grown to 57 advertisers. It has been enormously successful. Although Beck's program remains on the air, he has to be sweating it out these days, as the boycott grows larger and larger.
Although ColorOfChange.org has enjoyed remarkable success in building a boycott, it's clear that there is still much work to be done. We must continue to pressure Beck's remaining advertisers and remind them that we'll not support their products as long as they support a hatemonger like Beck. We must also continue to pressure the existing 57 advertising boycotters to keep their boycott in place, even after this storm of controversy passes.
So who is still advertising on Beck's program? Here is a list of advertisers:
- Rosland Capital
- Roche Diagnostics (Accu-Chek Aviva)
- Church and Dwight Co, Inc. (Oxi Clean)
- StopRepairBills.com
- Clarity Media Group (The Weekly Standard)
- Jos. A. Bank Clothiers
- Citrix (GoToMeeting)
- News Corp. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Seoul Metropolitan Government (seoul.go.kr)
- Zero Technologies (ZeroWater)
- Video Professor
- Fox News Network (realamericanstories.com)
- Carbonite
- 1-800-Pet-Meds
- IRSTaxAgreements.com
- Lear Capital
- Our Country Deserves Better PAC
If you don't support fascist Nazi-like hate speech polluting our nation's airwaves, then please don't support these advertisers (and let them know your feelings). For that matter, consider boycotting the cesspool of hate and misinformation that is Fox News. And please: support ColorOfChange.org and sign their online petition.
Labels: boycott, Glenn Beck, hate speech
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