Last I heard, Limbaugh had lost some thirteen sponsors and an immeasurable amount of goodwill. This is no time to let up. We've got to keep hitting and hitting hard on all pressure points.
That includes all kinds of local action, including finding your area's radio station that airs his show. Target the local advertisers, since they are interested in good relations within their communities. It's much easier for a national outfit to weather bad PR.
That is not to say we shouldn't target national companies who unfathomably still advertise with him; we absolutely should. So let's dive below the squiggeldy-doo and I'll explain why I've targeted these two companies.
First off, Netflix (see updates below). They are being condemned as standing by Rush, when they have just been a little slower than some other sponsors to come around, probably because they were identified as a sponsor later than the others, iirc. In any event, what I have gleaned from various comments here is that Netflix has been receiving a lot of feedback and management is having meetings and stuff to come to a decision.
I'm hoping they'll do the right thing, but we can all give them a nudge in the right direction with a lil' love note: pr@netflix.com.
I would hate to see any company penalized before they've even formally answered. If you've cancelled your account with them, hopefully you will re-open it in thanks if they pull their ads.
So, of all the grocery stores around the country, why am I singling out Kroger? Because Kroger is the parent company of lots and lots of stores -- Dillons, Food4Less, Pay-less, etc. Fred Meyer in Oregon and Washington is one of the chains they own and, sadly, one of the advertisers on Rush's show. So I let them know what I thought about that.
The fun part, though, is that if you go to their "comments" link, you can direct your feedback to a specific division in the first drop-down menu. Those "divisions" are all of the chains owned by Kroger. You can also go to Kroger's own website and use their store locator to find out which local chains they own. In my area, it's QFC as well as Freddy's.
If we get the Kroger Company on our side in this, that's at least a dozen stores that will no longer be advertising on Rush's show. So I sent a comment to both Fred Meyer and the Kroger Co.
Won't you join me?
UPDATE: Some interesting news from Kestrel9000:
J: ABC News sent another email to remove NETFLIX just now
me: why does that come from ABC News? they handle Rush's traffic?
J: no, but apparently Netflix notified NOT to schedule them near or around Rush from now on. some Rush stations also carry ABC News at top of hour (we do).
It looks like Netflix has made the right choice; let's await official confirmation.
UPDATE the Second: more great news from the comments!
Netflix flushes Rush
Netflix just posted this on their Facebook page, in the comments section:
"A quick comment in response to the postings on Rush Limbaugh: Netflix has not purchased and does not purchase advertising on the Rush Limbaugh show. We do buy network radio advertising and have confirmed that two Netflix spots were picked up in error as part of local news breaks during the Rush Limbaugh show. We have instructed our advertising agency to make sure that this error will not happen again."
Thanks, CalGal47! Now we can all divert our focus to sending our comments to
Kroger! Has anyone found local Kroger chains advertising?