AOL Pulls Advertising Dollars From Rush Limbaugh
AOL, the online giant who also owns the Huffington Post, has decided to pull its advertising dollars from the Rush Limbaugh show today. AOL is the 8th advertiser to announce that they were cancelling their advertising due to comments Rush made last week when he called a Georgetown University Law School Student, Sarah Fluke, a “slut” and a “prostitute” for wanting her insurer to pay for contraception.
Maureen Sullivan, an AOL spokeswoman said,
“At AOL one of our core values is that we act with integrity. 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.”
Rush apologized to Fluke but that hasn’t stopped a rash of advertisers from leaving his show. ProFlowers and Carbonite both left the show after he said he was sorry.
Carbonite CEO David Friend said in a statement,
“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 We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.”
ProFlowers also reference the incident in their decision, saying,
“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 USA. Mr. Limbaugh’s recent comments went beyond political discourse to a personal attack and do not reflect our values as a company.”
Quicken Loans, Sleep Train, Sleep Number, Citrix Systems Inc., and Legal Zoom have also announced that they will no longer be advertising on Limbaugh’s show.
Limbaugh had said in his apology,
“I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability?”
Rush has really misjudged this one. He assumed that his listeners would totally agree with him (which I am sure they do) but he didn’t count on his detractors being so well organized.
Do you think Rush Limbaugh will lose his show over this?
