A major, national advertiser has responded to the campaign to hold local hate-talk show host accountable:
Thank you for your email. It is always good to get feedback from our visitors and customers. As you said, buying on Rodger Hedgecock was part of a much bigger media plan.
We have since removed him from our February planning and moving forward, although he may still be doing endorsed spots for the next week.
This quick success was probably thanks to a very well-worded email from one of our campaigners:
I can't help but wonder whether your company is fully aware of the kind of commentary you are supporting with your advertising on the Roger Hedgecock radio talk show program. Certainly, Mr. Hedgecock has the right to air his opinions, but are these opinions that you want to associate with your company?
He seems to spew venomous comments at the worst possible times. He blamed the Newtown shooting of twenty children on "liberals" and "political correctness." He compares President Obama to Hitler, and claims that Obama wants terrorists to win. Here are a few samples:
Comments about Newtown shootings http://www.youtube.com/...
Accusations that Obama is traitor http://www.youtube.com/...
Coverage of Hedgecock controversies http://www.dailykos.com/...
In my working life, I was responsible for the advertising for a large telecommunications company; I realize that any specific programs may be part of a large media buy designed to reach specific audience at a desired frequency. Even within a large corporation, however, we had standards for the types of programming that were allowed, to ensure that our brand did not suffer from pornography or extreme violence.
Is your company aware of these statements? Are you willing to have your company be associated with these statements?
Thanks for your consideration
Thank you to everyone on Daily Kos who is participating. We're still contacting the rest of the advertisers, so come join the campaign! Send a PM or email localmediamonitor@gmail.com. Let's keep doing this