Adventures in Advertising

Lori just put up an interesting post on her attempt to tell companies who advertise on the Sinclair network about her dissatisfaction with their actions. I haven't commented on the Sinclair thing because, at some point it just becomes more of the same to me. (and by the way, go ahead and mention this story when people tell you that there is a liberal media bias).

Here is the link and some of what she had to say.

There is part of me that feels bad for a company that finds themselves SWAMPED by emails as a result of their actions. Poor Nancy Sutton is just doing her job and wham-o! she's getting buried under angry emails. But how else do we let a company know that the reason they are no longer getting our paltry $2.99 for a Big Gulp (I promise I've never bought a Big Gulp. And I just watched SuperSize Me, so you can rest assured I never will) is because we disagree with their corporate politics and, in fact, would like for corporations to GET OUT of politics? How else are we going to be heard? Snail Mail is just too slow. The internet is powerful. And smart companies will remember that we are watching and we have the power to get a message out, to millions of people, very quickly now. Smart companies will embrace the feedback they get from the Internet and open a dialogue.

I voiced my email in a very respectful tone and simply expressed my concern. I did not threaten to tell everyone I knew a lie about Whataburger. I didn't threaten some violent act ( frequent tactic of some advocacy groups). I simply said that my family and I were disappointed that they contribute advertising dollars to Sinclair because we really love having midnight taquitos.

Here is Nancy's response:

As an advertiser on select Sinclair stations, we have repeatedly requested a statement from Sinclair Broadcasting to explain their intentions and convince us they are not violating any FCC or FEC regulations with the airing of 'Stolen Honor'. As of Monday, October 18th, we have not received a response. This concerns us because we do not have the information we need to effectively answer the concerns of our customers. So, effective immediately, Whataburger, Inc. has pulled its advertising buy from Sinclair Broadcasting until more clarity can be gained on this topic and we can feel confident their actions are not in conflict with our ethics or the legal requirements of the FCC and FEC.

Sincerely,
Whataburger, Inc.
Nancy Sutton
Coordinator, Brand Management
Whataburger, Inc.

I commented to her that I read on atrios that 80 advertisers have now pulled out of Sinclair's stations and their stock is down over 7% She's right, it does work!