Amazon.com, which as of today continues to place ads on AnnCoulter.com, is astonishingly misreading the context of consumer/Kossack communications to the company.
Many today received what appears to be a canned response from Amazon, which is interpreting our communications as a request to remove Coulter's books from its offerings.
More on the flip:
Amazon, have you lost your corporate mind? This campaign does not advocate that you remove Coulter's books from your cyber-shelves. Chrissakes, you're in the book selling business. You are expected to stock every author and title known to mankind. The canned letter which implies we are advocating censorship is insulting. Let's hope this was simply an egregious error by an Amazon staffer who pulled the wrong canned letter out of your customer reponse message database. So just to make sure you understand, Amazon, here is the friggin message: We are asking you to repudiate hate speech by removing your ads from Ann Coulter's website. We are not asking you to remove her books from your offerings.
Here's just one example of a Kossak's letter to Amazon, and their startlingly irrational and way-off-base response that has been received by many today:
Dear Amazon:
I am one of your customers, or rather I use Amazon.com for various reasons and I would like to
know why you continue to advertise on anncoulter.com? Her views are professing violence, even,
murdering, if one is not of her opinion, she has made offensive and crude comments about muslims,
homosexuals, etc, yet this does not seem to bother Amazon.com!
I am sure you are aware that some of your employees, customers, etc. are homosexuals or muslims
or liberals, but they are persons, humans like every other human, does this not merit that you
should take a stand and say no to Ann Coulter.
I will not use Amazon.com to buy another thing until you chose to advertise in a responsable
manner. Here is a page of her site, Amazon.com appears on the lower right of the page, shame on
you!
Take the poll to show how many Kossacks are Amazon customers.
http://www.anncoulter.com/
Thank you,
xxxxxx
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Amazon.com Executive Customer Relations" <ecr@amazon.com>
To: "xxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com" <xxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 05:13:01 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Your Amazon.com Inquiry
{B@xxxxx}
Dear xxxxxx,
Thank you for writing to Amazon.com with your concerns about some of
the titles we list on our web site. This is an issue we take very
seriously and we wanted to share with you our goals with respect to
our catalogue.
Our goal is to support freedom of expression and to provide customers
with the broadest selection possible so they can find, discover, and
buy any title they might be seeking. That selection includes some
titles which most people, including employees of Amazon.com, may find
distasteful or otherwise objectionable.
Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles
because we believe their message is repugnant, and we would be rightly
criticized if we did so. Therefore, we will continue to make
controversial works available, except where they are prohibited by law.
Furthermore, because we strongly believe that the appropriate response
to repugnant speech is not censorship, but more speech, we will
continue to allow readers, authors, and publishers to express their
views freely about the books and other products we offer on our web
site. It is important to note that we do not endorse any opinions
expressed by individual authors, musical artists, or filmmakers.
We value all feedback from our customers, and I thank you again for
taking the time to send us your comments about this issue.
We hope you will allow us to continue to serve you.
Regards,
Eric Layne
Executive Customer Relations
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com
==========================
And now for some contact info:
Executive Customer Relations: ecr@amazon.com
Investor Relations: ir@amazon.com
Note: I have removed direct contact info for two Amazon personnel that were previously posted. As communications now being sent to Kossacks from Amazon appear to be coming from CEO Jeff Bezos' office, it is clear the company is aware of this issue. The two persons whose names were removed are not in positions to make decisions on this issue, but they likely passed our concerns up the ladder. Many thanks to them.
I was hoping to take a respite from the Coulter advertising campaign. However, the fact that Amazon is the ONLY remaining mainstream company with a presence on the site, coupled with the absolute inanity of their response, motivated me to head back to the keyboard.
Finally, here's the most current update of the "good guys" who took the time and showed the courtesy to respond to Kossacks and verify they were pulling Coulter ads:
Online Ad Placement Networks:
Value Click Network
Companies/Organizations:
WAMU
USA TODAY
NetBank
Verizon Communications
Sallie Mae
Toyota
Yahoo
Mitsubishi
AT&T/Cingular
BellSouth
ING Financial
Dollar Rent-A-Car
VintageCotton.com (see site for new anti-Coulter T-shirt)
Edmunds.com
Dogpile.com
Novica.com (in conjuction with National Geographic)
SmileTrain.org
University of Phoenix
Sallie Mae
LasikPlus
Power Chord Academy
1-800-CONTACTS
Gulf Shores.com/Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau
Ulta.com
Yellow Pages.com
Classmates.com (subsidiary of United Online)
Wireless Foundation