Muse and Glenn Beck disown one another

[DAL]

Muse ask Fox News presenter Glenn Beck to retract his support for the band – audio

Beck called President Obama 'racist' in July


Muse have reportedly asked under-fire Fox TV presenter Glenn Beck to retract his public endorsement of the band after he praised them on his radio show.

Beck, who is known for his conservative stance on politics, is currently embroiled in a scandal over remarks he made in July when he called President Obama "a racist". The Press Association today (October 5) reports that Waitrose has pulled its advertisements on Fox News over the incident.

Speaking on 'The Glenn Beck Program' on September 16, the presenter hailed Muse's latest album 'The Resistance' as "fantastic", before stating that the band themselves are known to share his libertarian views concerning how the western world is governed.

"These guys are brilliant, they know the time that we live in. They are libertarians from England," he said. "All of the lyrics are just dead on, on what's coming our way."

Beck also endorsed the band on his Twitter page the same day, again alluding that they are libertarians.

"New Muse CD. Amazing. These guys are right on the money. Lyrics on target, talent off the charts. They 'get it'. Libertarian!" he Tweeted.

However, speaking later on his radio show, Beck revealed he had been asked to retract his praise for the band after being emailed by a Muse representative while on air.

"I just got an email from representation of Muse," he said. "They would like me to retract my endorsement. My apologies to Muse for saying that I like them. I didn't mean to destroy all their credibility and all their coolness.

"Let me just set the record straight. Muse – I hate them. It's an awful album and you should never go out and buy it."

Listen to the broadcast, which is being streamed on Mediamatters.org below:

http://www.nme.com/news/muse/47672

[mjhoyt27]

Muse ask Fox News presenter Glenn Beck to retract his support for the band – audio

Beck called President Obama 'racist' in July


Muse have reportedly asked under-fire Fox TV presenter Glenn Beck to retract his public endorsement of the band after he praised them on his radio show.

Beck, who is known for his conservative stance on politics, is currently embroiled in a scandal over remarks he made in July when he called President Obama "a racist". The Press Association today (October 5) reports that Waitrose has pulled its advertisements on Fox News over the incident.

Speaking on 'The Glenn Beck Program' on September 16, the presenter hailed Muse's latest album 'The Resistance' as "fantastic", before stating that the band themselves are known to share his libertarian views concerning how the western world is governed.

"These guys are brilliant, they know the time that we live in. They are libertarians from England," he said. "All of the lyrics are just dead on, on what's coming our way."

Beck also endorsed the band on his Twitter page the same day, again alluding that they are libertarians.

"New Muse CD. Amazing. These guys are right on the money. Lyrics on target, talent off the charts. They 'get it'. Libertarian!" he Tweeted.

However, speaking later on his radio show, Beck revealed he had been asked to retract his praise for the band after being emailed by a Muse representative while on air.

"I just got an email from representation of Muse," he said. "They would like me to retract my endorsement. My apologies to Muse for saying that I like them. I didn't mean to destroy all their credibility and all their coolness.

"Let me just set the record straight. Muse – I hate them. It's an awful album and you should never go out and buy it."

Listen to the broadcast, which is being streamed on Mediamatters.org below:

http://www.nme.com/news/muse/47672

This is a funny story all around. I like the fact that more organizations don't want to be assoicated with him. Also, Beck's last line is pretty damn funny.

[DAL]

Waitrose dumps Fox News in protest over remarks about Barack Obama

His last-minute Olympic sprint to back Chicago may have come to nothing, the Afghan quagmire may be bubbling away and Sarah Palin may be topping the bestseller list, but Barack Obama can at least take comfort from the fact that Britain's most upmarket supermarket chain is on his side.

Waitrose, which prides itself more on its "quality food, honestly priced" than staring down rightwing attack dogs, has become the latest firm to pull its ads from Fox News after presenter Glenn Beck's remarks about the US president.

In July, Beck called Obama "a racist" with "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture" after the president said that police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had "acted stupidly" in arresting the distinguished professor Henry Louis Gates as he entered his own home.

Beck's outburst prompted dozens of companies – among them Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Travelocity – to withdraw their adverts from his show for fear that their businesses might become tainted by association.

Now Waitrose, which advertises on the channel carried by Sky in Britain, has followed suit after customers complained about the Glenn Beck Show.

An angry Waitrose shopper who emailed the chain to express his distaste over its decision "to be associated with this particular form of rightwing cant" received an apology last week.

"We take the placement of our ads in individual programmes very seriously, ensuring the content of these programmes is deemed appropriate for a brand with our values," said a customer services spokesman. "Since being notified of our presence within the Glenn Beck programme, we have withdrawn all Waitrose advertising from the Fox News channel with immediate effect and for all future TV advertising campaigns."

A spokesman for the supermarket, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, could not tell the Guardian how many complaints had been received over the matter. "We believe it was the right thing to do," he said, adding: "We take the views of our customers seriously."

The Obama administration appears to be losing patience with the channel, which has been particularly scathing about the president's proposed healthcare reforms.

Proof of the mutual antipathy came two weeks ago when Obama gave a round of broadcast interviews but snubbed Fox News.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/04/waitrose-fox-news-barack-obama

[Southflaguy]

Huh, I thought Glenn Beck mostly listened to rap music...

[SRT936]

His last-minute Olympic sprint to back Chicago may have come to nothing, the Afghan quagmire may be bubbling away and Sarah Palin may be topping the bestseller list, but Barack Obama can at least take comfort from the fact that Britain's most upmarket supermarket chain is on his side.

Waitrose, which prides itself more on its "quality food, honestly priced" than staring down rightwing attack dogs, has become the latest firm to pull its ads from Fox News after presenter Glenn Beck's remarks about the US president.

In July, Beck called Obama "a racist" with "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture" after the president said that police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had "acted stupidly" in arresting the distinguished professor Henry Louis Gates as he entered his own home.

Beck's outburst prompted dozens of companies – among them Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Travelocity – to withdraw their adverts from his show for fear that their businesses might become tainted by association.

Now Waitrose, which advertises on the channel carried by Sky in Britain, has followed suit after customers complained about the Glenn Beck Show.

An angry Waitrose shopper who emailed the chain to express his distaste over its decision "to be associated with this particular form of rightwing cant" received an apology last week.

"We take the placement of our ads in individual programmes very seriously, ensuring the content of these programmes is deemed appropriate for a brand with our values," said a customer services spokesman. "Since being notified of our presence within the Glenn Beck programme, we have withdrawn all Waitrose advertising from the Fox News channel with immediate effect and for all future TV advertising campaigns."

A spokesman for the supermarket, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, could not tell the Guardian how many complaints had been received over the matter. "We believe it was the right thing to do," he said, adding: "We take the views of our customers seriously."

The Obama administration appears to be losing patience with the channel, which has been particularly scathing about the president's proposed healthcare reforms.

Proof of the mutual antipathy came two weeks ago when Obama gave a round of broadcast interviews but snubbed Fox News.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009...s-barack-obama

Have you noticed that Britain has become a haven for all things leftist? First they ban Dr. Savage, now they're after Beck. Look out Rush, your probably next...

[DAL]

Seems the Brits have good company

NY Daily News http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...#ixzz0T7JJxLQe

The boycott of Fox News host Glenn Beck gathered more steam Monday when retailing giant Wal-Mart and seven other companies pulled their ads from his show, organizers said.

Among those bailing on Beck: GMAC Financial Services, Best Buy, CVS and Travelocity.

On July 28, Beck called President Obama a racist who has a "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture."

That prompted a call for a boycott by Color of Change, an African-American online political organization that claims 600,000 members.

About 145,000 members signed a petition asking Beck's advertisers to stop supporting him.

"It's rare for a campaign directed at a TV show's advertisers to be this successful," said Color of Change founder James Rucker. "But we won't stop here. We're going to continue reaching out to Beck's remaining advertisers."

A total of 20 companies have pulled their ads in the last two weeks, Color of Change says, including Geico, ConAgra, RadioShack, Men's Wearhouse, State Farm, Sargento and Procter & Gamble.

Judging from Monday night's broadcast, there were plenty of companies eager to fill the ad slots, including The Wall Street Journal, DirecTV, Honda and Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Channel.

Hundreds of Beck fans have voiced support for him on a counterprotest Web site, DefendGlenn.com, which urges consumers to boycott the advertisers who pulled out of Beck's show.

A Fox News spokeswoman said Tuesday: "The advertisers referenced have all moved their spots from Beck to other programs on the network so there has been no revenue lost."


-----------------------------------------------------------


MarketWatch http://www.marketwatch.com/story/adv...eck-2009-08-14

Advertisers deserting Fox News' Glenn Beck

Cable host calls Obama 'racist' and sponsors move to distance themselves

Advertising Berkshire Hathaway Inc Berkshire Hathaway Inc The Procter & Gamble Co

By William Spain, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- In what is shaping up to be one of the more effective boycott campaigns in years, advertisers are abandoning the "Glenn Beck" show on Fox News following the host's incendiary comments that President Barack Obama is a "racist" and has a "deep-seated hatred for white people."

Among the advertisers to pull spots from the popular cable talk show are Geico, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway /quotes/comstock/13*!brk.a/quotes/nls/brk.a (BRK.A 100,100, +300.00, +0.30%) /quotes/comstock/13*!brk.b/quotes/nls/brk.b (BRK.B 3,283, +18.20, +0.56%) ; Procter & Gamble /quotes/comstock/13*!pg/quotes/nls/pg (PG 56.68, -0.07, -0.12%) ; Sargento Cheese; and Progressive Insurance /quotes/comstock/13*!pgr/quotes/nls/pgr (PGR 16.52, +0.26, +1.60%) , according to the companies and Color of Change, one group that is organizing a campaign against the program.

Beck, who made the remarks during another Fox News program late last month, is among the network's biggest draws, pulling in an average of about 2 million viewers. (Fox News is a unit of News Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!nws/quotes/nls/nws (NWS 13.47, +0.23, +1.74%) , which also owns MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.)

She also cited an earlier statement by Bill Shine, the channel's senior vice president of programming, that "Glenn Beck expressed a personal opinion which represented his own views, not those of the Fox News Channel. And as with all commentators in the cable news arena, he is given the freedom to express his opinions."

Adding fuel to the fire is Donny Deutsch, a TV personality and head of the ad agency Deutsch Inc., which is part of the Interpublic Group /quotes/nls/ipg (IPG 6.92, +0.08, +1.17%) . He, too, called for a boycott of Beck's show, saying on the air on the business-news channel CNBC that "this has to stop," and the "only way this stops" is if sponsors pull their support.

He went on to read a list of companies that advertise on Beck's show, including Pfizer and Kraft Foods.

The pharmaceutical giant isn't backing down yet, telling MarketWatch that it hasn't made any changes in its media buying.

"Our main focus is to make all consumers aware of important information about health and wellness, and the best way to do this is through a broad range of advertising environments," said a Pfizer /quotes/comstock/13*!pfe/quotes/nls/pfe (PFE 16.40, +0.25, +1.55%) spokeswoman.

Kraft /quotes/comstock/13*!kft/quotes/nls/kft (KFT 26.08, +0.06, +0.23%) was a bit more noncommittal. "Because of the diversity of our consumers, Kraft Foods will continue to advertise on a wide range of networks and programs," said a spokeswoman. "We make every attempt to place our commercials on programs with universal appeal. It is our policy not to advertise on programs with extreme or inflammatory content or images on any network."

Ad boycotts driven by viewer anger or corporate caution over broadcast content have been a staple of the American television business for decades. Few have been successful in any long-term way.

Several companies pulled ads from ABC's "Desperate Housewives" at one point, but they were quickly replaced, and the show went to become one of network TV's biggest moneymakers. Ditto an all-out attempt in the 1990s by the American Family Association to boycott "NYPD Blue" even before it went on the air. After a rough start, the show became one of the most popular in prime time and attracted advertisers by the score.

By contrast, when Bill Maher was hosting "Politically Incorrect," his comments about the relative courage of the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, set off a firestorm. Several big companies including Fedex and Sears Holding yanked their ads, and some affiliates refused to run the show. It eventually dwindled away and was canceled early the next year, although Maher himself now has a popular program on ad-free HBO.

For advertisers, "the halo of the show means you are connected with supporting that point of view," said John Greening, a Northwestern University professor of marketing who spent 28 years in the advertising business. "It is not about awareness but about association."

"Beck's demagoguery crossed the line of the socially expected taste level, and I can't think of a company on the planet who wants to be a part of that conversation," Greening said. "It is a no-brainer to pull your ads."

Whether the show can survive with advertisers deserting it depends on whether they can replaced and how much money Fox News is prepared to lose before pulling the plug.

It also, Greening said, "depends on Beck's level of contrition or how he explains it. But unless he does something to rehabilitate himself, he has probably crossed the line into obscurity."

William Spain is a MarketWatch staff writer in Chicago.

Geico didn't respond to a request for comment but sent Color of Change an email saying it had "instructed its ad-buying service to redistribute its inventory of rotational spots on [Fox] to their other network programs, exclusive of the Glenn Beck program."

Privately held Sargento told its media buyer not to put any of its ads in Beck's show, said a spokeswoman.

"We market our products to people regardless of their political affiliations," she said. "Yet we do not want to be associated with hateful speech used by either liberal or conservative television hosts."

Because of the way ad time is often bought on cable -- in bulk and with an eye toward demographics and so-called day parts -- some of the targeted companies' ads may well have ended up on the program by mistake and in violation of their own standards. If so, it was an error that some advertisers vowed not to repeat.

"We place advertising on a variety of programming with the goal of reaching a broad range of insurance consumers who might be interested in our products," said a spokeswoman for Progressive. "We also seek to avoid advertising on programming that our customers or potential customers may find extremely offensive."

The Glenn Beck show wasn't "targeted," she added, and "any advertising that may have appeared on the show was a result of an error."

P&G didn't respond to a request for comment, but one news report quoted a spokesperson as saying that "at times our ads are run by mistake on shows that they were not meant to" and that the company would "try to be more careful in the future."

Color of Change is using a 600,000-member electronic mailing list to urge people to sign a petition that is then forwarded to Beck's sponsors. The group was founded in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster to promote "racial progress," said James Rucker, its executive director, adding that this was the first time the group had been involved in an action of this kind.

"We have seen rhetoric that is destructive and divisive before, but taking a platform that is supposed to be for news and analysis and using it to stoke racial animosity just crossed the line," Rucker said.

The group also contacts advertisers directly but has yet to call on its members to boycott their products or bombard them with phone calls, Rucker said, instead giving companies the opportunity "to be responsible corporate citizens."

Rucker added that he "absolutely expects" other advertisers to follow suit and drop out because the wave of defections "raises the stakes for them to stick around."

For its part, Fox News said through a spokeswoman that while some advertisers have "removed their spots from Beck," they have just shifted to "other programs on the network, so there has been no revenue lost."

[tony.o]

NY Daily News http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...#ixzz0T7JJxLQe



Judging from Monday night's broadcast, there were plenty of companies eager to fill the ad slots, including The Wall Street Journal, DirecTV, Honda and Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Channel.

."

Though I wouldn't know who advertises on almost all the programs I watch because I DVR every program and FF through all the commercials.
I refuse two waste any time waching commercials.

[JasperST]

I've never heard of Waitrose or Muse. Who gives a crap? All this blather over minutia is making Beck increasingly famous.

[tony.o]

Well, thats the danger when you play around and call everything Libertarian. I'm sure Muse isn't anything close to Libertarian. I'd guess their version 'resistance' is probably more in line with a G20 Anarchist than someone who values liberty.

[E3CSHARP]

laughs....... tisk tisk tisk......."The founding fathers America"

[DAL]

I've never heard of Waitrose or Muse. Who gives a crap? All this blather over minutia is making Beck increasingly famous.

I thought you listened to Beck regularly. He is the one who praised Muse.

Perhaps notorious or infamous would be more apt.

Beside, I am sure that the only thing that matters is the amount of revenue he generates. Ratings alone are not enough; sponsors also have to be willing to be associated with him.

[JasperST]

I thought you listened to Beck regularly. He is the one who praised Muse.

Nope, I don't care for Beck myself. It's more the style than the substance, he comes across too preachy for me. Michael Medved is more my style.

[DAL]

Nope, I don't care for Beck myself. It's more the style than the substance, he comes across too preachy for me. Michael Medved is more my style.

My apologies.

[FredFlash]

Adolph Hitler was one of history's great minds. See "The Real America", pp. 210-211, by Glenn Beck

[DAL]

Adolph Hitler was one of history's great minds. See "The Real America", pp. 210-211, by Glenn Beck

Gee, Fred, I never thought that you would be one to agree with Glenn Beck.