Corporate America is bowing to anti-gay Christian groups’ boycott demands

[Chauga]

Spurred on by a biblical injunction evangelicals call “The Great Commission,” and emboldened by George W. Bush’s re-election, which is perceived as a “mandate from God,” the Christian right has launched a series of boycotts and pressure campaigns aimed at corporate America — and at its sponsorship of entertainment, programs and activities the Christers don’t like.

And it’s working. Just three weeks ago, the Rev. Donald Wildmon’s American Family Association (AFA) announced it was ending its boycott of corporate giant Procter & Gamble — maker of household staples like Tide and Crest — for being pro-gay. Why? Because the AFA’s boycott (which the organization says enlisted 400,000 families) had succeeded in getting P&G to pull its millions of dollars in advertising from TV shows like Will & Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. P&G also ended its advertising in gay magazines and on gay Web sites. And a P&G executive who had been given a leave of absence to work on a successful Cincinnati, Ohio, referendum that repealed a ban on any measures protecting gays from discrimination was shown the door.

“We cannot say they are 100 percent clean, and we ask our supporters to let us know if they discover P&G again being involved in pushing the homosexual lifestyle,” growls the AFA’s statement of victory over the corporate behemoth, “but judging by all that we found in our research, it appears that our concerns have been addressed.” The Wall Street Journal reported on May 11 that “P&G officials won’t talk publicly about the boycott. But privately, they acknowledge the groups turned out to be larger, better funded, better organized, and more sophisticated than the company had imagined.”

But the P&G cave-in to the Christers is only the tip of the iceberg. In just the past year and a half, AFA protests and boycotts — or even the simple threat of boycotts — have been enough to make a host of American companies pull their ads from TV shows the Christers consider pro-gay or salacious. Desperate Housewives has lost ads from Safeway, Tyson Foods, Liberty Mutual, Kohl’s, Alberto Culver, Leapfrog and Lowe’s after the AFA’s One Million Dads campaign targeted the show’s sponsors. Life as We Know It got the same AFA treatment — and lost ads from McCormick, Lenscrafters, Radio Shack, Papa John’s International, Chattem and Sharpie.

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/29/features-ireland.php

[randr]

1. This should be a lesson for corporations to

keep their business out of the public arena. No corporate campaign contributions no problems. This works for both sides and cleans up the process for all of us.

[iconoclastic cat]

2. What exactly does this have to do with campaign contribs?

[getmeouttahere]

3. These people are such a small percentage...

of the population, or at least the ones that would actually boycott. I've said it before and I'll say it again...our boycotts/counter-boycotts would be so much more effective...it's not like these Christian wackos are the target audience for "Will & Grace" anyway!

[Miss Chybil]

4. So, now a few Jesus freaks are going to control even more of what we see

and do...

Life in a free country is so refreshing. Here's what I do when I see a program I don't like...

I CHANGE THE CHANNEL.

[Initech]

18. What I dont get is why they're boycotting Ford because they advertise in

Gay magazines.

WHAT ARE THEY DOING READING GAY MAGAZINES IN THE FIRST PLACE?

[Sandpiper]

5. Thanks fundies, now I know where not to shop

And whose products not to buy.

[msongs]

6. the mythical jesus says divorce = adultery. dont see the terrorists

christians getting excited about that do we? You cannot gas jews or lynch negros for jesus anymore , the gays are the last safe target for christians to terrorize.

Msongs
www.msongs.com

[Kerrytravelers]

7. Dear God, these people are crazy.

We really need funding for these organizations to monitor these nutcases before they complete their goal of destroying America as we know it.

[AuntiBush]

14. Amen!

[DuaneBidoux]

8. We need a campaign "Do it double" which promises to OVER patronize

GLBT friendly companies. For example, I just saw on C-Span the other day that HP is very GLBT friendly for same sex policies and benefits for partners. My next printer (actually my last one along with a printer) will be HP. For every dollar they withhold we must spend two!! After learning about Dell and Michael Dell's support for Bush, fuck Dell! Never again!

[dsc]

9. We need to fight boycot with boycot

Everytime we hear an anouncement of a company giving in to these blackmailing swine we need to start our own boycot of that company.

[powwowdancer]

10. funanon...

Sounds like someone needs a fundamentalists anonymous intervention... if you have a fundy friend, (which I kinda doubt, but who knows?), refer 'em to funanon, where help is available. Here's the URL:

http://www.edwardtbabinski.us/fundamentalists/

And as an adjunct to this treatment; attention all fundies, (not just christian fundies), I recommend the Skeptics Annotated Bible/Q'uran. Here's the URL:

http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/

If after all this, your brain is still dead... shut the hell up and work the steps.

The only thing I won't tolerate is intolerance.

[newyawker99]

23. Hi powwowdancer!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[zoeb]

11. Pull their ads from a wildly popular show

like Desperate Housewives? I bet the ad costs got to them before AFA.

[AuntiBush]

12. I thought "authentic Christians" swayed from MATERIAL items!?!

Fake, Anti-Chris-tians! Everyone of them.

My next puter will be a Mac. Please don't tell me Macintosh is bowing to these evil "me, me, me-ers" too!?!

:crazy: The Tali ban must be having one big laugh on us.

[Melodybe]

19. Nope Macs are gay and dem friendly

[Smarmie Doofus]

13. chosetheblue.com and buyblue.com

The left needs to stop being so lazy and complacent. What you buy, how you spend your money, who's coffers you feed has implications.

This is a shock?

[mitchum]

15. Bring on the lions!

I am sick of these damn people

[RPM]

16. should read:

"Corporate America is BENDING OVER to anti-gay Christian groups’ boycott demands"

Of course - that's why I am not the headlines editor...

[rexcat]

17. The sad thing about this is P&G has a

very good gay anti-discrimination policy. They are very open-minded in the hiring of gays. My wife works at P&G as a scientist and the person who hired her is gay. That was over 17 years ago. He is now at the Director level. Another promotion would be VP for this person.

Al D’Amato's (former right wing congressman from New York) nephew was at P&G, out of the closet but unfortunately he died about 16 years ago. He was one of the top toxicologists at P&G at the time.

It is sad to see these right wing bigots win like this.

[AX10]

20. DAMN IT!!!!

These people are NAZIS!

We should consider ourselves AT WAR WITH the CHRISTIAN REICH!

[LightningFlash]

21. Make no mistake, this is a war...

We are most definitely at war with crazed fundamentalists who are quickly taking over everything they can touch.

http://www.yuricareport.com/

Lying to get into illegal wars was just the beginning, these men and women want to force Jesus on everything possible and make it stick.

[NMMNG]

22. I'm so sick of these closed-minded bigots

trying to dictate what every one else does! Stupid fascist SOBs. :grr: :grr: :grr: