I had occasion to communicate with the CEO of a sponsor of Rush Limbaugh today.
I have not included the company name or the CEO's name as I did not seek nor was explicitly granted permision to do so. (Company and officer name replaced with XXXX)
I expressed my concern that Limbaugh's recent slanders have gone beyond the pale.
I have recommended this company to clients for years now as a compliment to my own company's services. I do a brisk business with them.
As I told the CEO I do not allow politics to drive my business decisions and I also emphasized my strong support for the Freedom of Speech guaranteed by the First Ammendment to the Constitution. Mr Limbaugh's slanders however, in my opinion, strain the limits of free speech.
I also pointed out to the CEO that a number of my clients have contacted me asking me to recommend a competitive provider as they are concerned about this companies appearance of endorsement of Limbaugh. They are as disgusted as I am with these vile attacks.
I include the CEO's (redacted) reply below for the edification of the community:
"Hello,
Over the past two days we have received a tremendous amount of feedback on Rush Limbaugh’s recent comments. I too am offended and very concerned about his comments. Limbaugh’s remarks have us rethinking our future use of talk radio.
We use more than 40 talk show hosts to help get the XXXX message out to the public. The nature of talk radio is that from time to time listeners are offended by a host and ask that we pull our advertising. This goes for conservatives like Limbaugh and progressives like Stephanie Miller and Ed Shultz. We even get customers who demand that we pull the plug on NPR. As an advertiser, we do not have control over a show’s editorial content or what they say on air. XXXX does not endorse the opinions of the shows or their hosts.
However, the outcry over Limbaugh is the worst we’ve ever seen. I have scheduled a face-to-face meeting next week with Limbaugh during which I will impress upon him that his comments were offensive to many of our customers and employees alike.
Please know your voice has been heard and that we are taking this matter very seriously.
Regards,
XXXX "