Below the fold is correspondence from and to Home Depot concerning any advertising dollars they may spend Bill O'Reilly's way.
The response is OK (.... "Please also note that The Home Depot has a policy that prohibits the running of its advertising on programs that express strong opinions or political views. This includes Bill O'Reilly.")
But there is bizarre logic at Home Depot. Paragraph one plugs something called "Eco Options" which presumably permit consumers to more easily buy products that reflect their environmental concerns. I made no mention of the environment, but it appears Home Depot assumes anyone who calls attention to Bill O'Reilly in a less than positive manner must be a goo-goo environmentalist. So the kicker is that my letter, which is lumped into something called "campaigns like this one," is responsible for distracting Home Depot from its environmental mission.
To quote: "Unfortunately campaigns like this one cause us to take time away from our sustainability goals and address a variance of political views."
Go figure. I guess a short answer to me would have been - "hey we make you feel good about the environment, get off our back!"
Hello,
Thank you for contacting the Investor Relations Department.
The Home Depot has a strong passion for being environmentally
responsible both in the Company's operating principles and in
responsible retailing through our industry-leading Eco Options
initiative, a program that allows customers to easily identify products
that have less of an impact on the environment and empowers them to help
make a difference in their own homes. We have led many initiatives with
interest groups to develop standards and set environmental goals for
ourselves and suppliers. Some of these at great expense and sweat equity
to the company.
Our advertising campaigns have one simple objective -- to communicate
with audiences in the most effective way possible. While we do attempt
to avoid programs with potentially offensive content, we do not try to
influence or control editorial content of news and opinion programs.
The Company is receptive to many forms and styles of media as we seek a
balanced representation of programming to reach our customer base.
Unfortunately campaigns like this one cause us to take time away from
our sustainability goals and address a variance of political views.
Please also note that The Home Depot has a policy that prohibits the
running of its advertising on programs that express strong opinions or
political views. This includes Bill O'Reilly.
Thank you,
Investor Relations
-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:DoNotReply@shareholder.com]
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 9:08 PM
To: Wilder, Tammy
Subject: Information for Investors
Produce Man submitted the following comment from the
Home Depot Web site...
----------
I own quite a lot of Home Depot stock and as a Chicagoan I celebrated
the opening of your first store in Chicago on North Avenue that brought
value and choice to one of the nation's largest urban markets. I am
concerned however that you continue to advertise on Fox News' The
O'Reilly Factor despite the show repeatedly containing hate speech,
denigrating the values of millions of Americans, and showing extreme
intolerance for diverse viewpoints. I hope Home Depot's officers are
not of the opinion that the company's future is in the hands of insecure
white pundits who are out of touch with the country. I note other
companies, such as Lowe's, are beginning to ensure that their
advertising reflects the values of their customers. That is just good
business. Again, as a white male myself I think you can do better.
Regards - end letter.
Anywhoo - the point is companies can be reached by us in all of our roles as sentient human beings - concerned citizens, consumers, parents, shareholders et al. So let us keep the "dialogue" up. Hopefully we will get through beyond the rearranged talking points.