Advertisers on RW radio stations, like Cabot cheese, need to be more picky.

[certainot]

Last edited Thu Feb 9, 2012, 02:27 AM - Edit history (1)

Every advertiser on a right wing radio station endorses global warming denial, attacks on OWs protestors, and GOP objectives. They're going to be responsible for helping the right lie us into Iran like they did Iraq. They're responsible for enabling GOP obstruction of all liberal and Obama objectives, and swiftboating Dem politicians.

Ad agencies need to make that clear and allow advertisers to distinguish when they buy ad time.

A few weeks ago a noticed a Cabot cheese ad on the Limbaugh show three different days in about a one week period. I don’t listen to right wing radio often, just once in a while to find out what the republicans are up to. RW radio does the groundwork repetition for all their lies and BS.

I called Cabot to point out their business is effected by climate extremes and Limbaugh was recently named the Climate Change Misinformer of the Year by Media Matters. I’d give him more blame than that- he’s been intimidating politicians and meteorologists and lying to millions on this issue for 20 years.

Here’s the email I got back:

Thank you for contacting Cabot and sharing your thoughts. Here at Cabot, everyone from our farm family owners to the cheese makers feels a strong commitment to our cooperative.
 
We appreciate you contacting us with your comments about our advertising during the broadcast of the Limbaugh show. Cabot’s choice of specific media for advertising doesn’t endorse program content - just the content of our ads. Typically it is a variety of consumer factors that influence our media placement and most specifically it is because we are hoping to reach a certain demographic audience.

Our farm family owners have appreciated your support.

 
Etc, etc.

Then last Monday, Feb 6, I heard a Cabot ad on Hannity on the same station, right after the Limbaugh show. The ad came on just before Hannity had Karl Rove on to whine about the Super Bowl Clint Eastwood ad.

I’m not trying to organize a boycott here but I won’t eat Cabot cheese and will suggest the same to friends and relatives.

My point here is to suggest that advertising agencies need to feel pressure to allow their clients to distinguish between political and non political radio stations. Like no other media segment, right wing radio stations are almost exclusively partisan Republican. Right wing radio is unique and distinct and should be an optional subset in advertising. It would be a severe hit to the GOP's most important media weapon, the one that's been kicking liberal ass for 20 years, if advertising agencies were pushed into making that distinction. Somehow.

When you advertise on a right wing radio station you are subsidizing what is essentially 24/7 political ad for the Republican Party and it's objectives. It's normal to hear ads for right wing talkers while a station is doing a local restaurant review or sporting event on the weekend.

Companies like Cabot shouldn’t be able to excuse their support for global warming denial and partisan lying just because it’s part of a package. Some national advertisers with ads on right wing radio also advertise on progressive radio but dollar-wise I'll bet it doesn't compare. The monopoly rules.

Some of those Limbaugh Hannity and stations are very large but I’ll bet in most cases the same number of listeners could be made up on music and sports stations and other alternatives. Maybe there’s a job for someone doing that.

Part of the draw for these radio stations is their associations with professional and university sports- here’s a list of 76 universities that broadcast sports on over 170 Limbaugh radio stations. And some people have suggested universities can’t be faulted because they often sell broadcasting rights as part of a package.

Like Cabot these universities might try to excuse their 'support’ of right wing radio this way but it needs to be fixed. Every advertiser on right wing radio stations is supporting the GOP and global warming denial.

Environmentally and socially responsible business principles need to be applied with respect to right wing radio.

[Louisiana1976]

1. Well said.

Advertising is the mother's milk of the media and when it's right-wing media it's a good idea for consumers to boycott products that support them with their advertising dollars.

[certainot]

2. there are a lot of companies out there supporting GOP radio merely because they buy

advertising packages.

once the left lets the big ad agencies know there's a penalty for being on RW radio, or a reward for avoiding it, the right will begin to lose it's biggest advantage the last 20 yrs.