Rush Limbaugh's
non-apology, undoubtedly spurred by the
loss of advertisers, didn't do the trick. Since his "apology" statement Saturday, he lost
two more national sponsors, Carbonite and Pro Flowers.
One such company that had been a longtime sponsor of Mr. Limbaugh’s, Carbonite, said it would reconsider its ad spending; after the apology was issued, it announced that it would suspend its ads anyway. “We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse,” the company’s chief executive, David Friend, said. [...]
The company that withdrew on Sunday, ProFlowers, had been inundated with angry Twitter messages from opponents of Mr. Limbaugh. In a statement, it said, “We do not base our advertising decisions to align with any particular political view or opinion, as our employees and customers are as diverse as the U.S.A. Mr. Limbaugh’s recent comments went beyond political discourse to a personal attack and do not reflect our values as a company.”
That's quite a change for ProFlowers from the
mealy-mouthed tweets the company had been posting in response to customer demands that they drop Limbaugh.
But Carbonite was a big one. In company CEO David Friend's original post on the issue, he expressed his concern, and his intention to confront Limbaugh: "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."
The non-apology, however, seemed to seal the deal for Friend. In an update to that post, he writes:
“No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show. We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.”
So out are Quicken Loans, mattress retailers Sleep Train and Sleep Number, software maker Citrix Systems Inc., online legal document services company LegalZoom, Pro-Flowers, and Carbonite. It's almost enough to make one want to listen to Limbaugh's show today. Almost.
Nearly 100,000 members of the Daily Kos community have signed our petition telling the remaining advertisers to pull their support for Rush Limbaugh. Please, add your name now before we deliver the signatures.
9:33 AM PT: Make that eight. AOL has pulled out as well, at least temporarily.
"At AOL one of our core values is that we act with integrity," said Maureen Sullivan, an AOL spokeswoman. "We have monitored the unfolding events and have determined that Mr. Limbaugh’s comments are not in line with our values. As a result we have made the decision to suspend advertising on The Rush Limbaugh Radio show."
9:47 AM PT: Via ATL Dem in comments, it's now nine.
@ex We have decided to join other advertisers and suspend our sponsorship of The Rush Limbaugh Show.
— @taxresolution via HootSuite
1:38 PM PT: Add two more, and one of them is major: Sears.
And Bonobos:
@ScottCandage Looks like we were running on it, but we've told them to pull us from the show indefinitely. Thanks for letting us know!
— @Bonobos via web