Wednesday, August 29, 2007

It's Working-CNN advertisers say stop

Your letters and calls to companies whose ads appeared during CNN's "God's Jewish Warriors" are making a difference! Orkin Pest Control and Raymond James & Associates have responded swiftly and appropriately by asking CNN to make sure that their company's advertisements are not placed in any future repeats of the series, "God's Warriors".

According to Orkin's Assistant VP of Public Relations, Martha Craft:

"We had purchased advertising that was supposed to air on 'Larry King Live' on August 21. CNN changed programming to air 'God's Jewish Warriors' without notifying us ahead of time to obtain our approval - which is against our agreement with the network. We have discussed this with CNN, and they are aware of the severity of their mistake. I am told that 'God's Jewish Warriors' was [part of] a three-part special which has concluded; however, Orkin has added it to our 'do not buy' list ['of offensive shows where we do not allow our ads to run'], should it re-air in the future. We sincerely thank you for bringing this issue to our attention - we can't fix a problem if we're not aware of it."

According to Raymond James' Investor Relations, they were not aware that their ad would run during "God's Jewish Warriors," and they "have requested no further airing of our commercials in any re-broadcast of the series."

Please continue to contact the other companies whose commercials aired during the program (see list at bottom), but desist from contacting Orkin or Raymond James.

Here are CAMERA's reviews of all three programs in the series:
God's Jewish Warriors God's Muslim Warriors God's Christian Warriors

We are happy to see that many others are outraged by the shoddy and severely biased "God's Warriors." Here are some recent columns, blogs and a TV program condemning CNN's series:

* MSNBC's Dan Abrams said, "CNN should have called it what it was, a defense of Islamic fundamentalism and the worst type of moral relativism." Abrams aired a segment on his program to discuss CNN's series' unfair attack on Christians and Jews, as well as the whitewash of extremist Muslims, and called it "CNN's Holy War". Click here for more on this and to see the segment.

* Screenwriter Robert Avrech has written a hilarious yet insightful review of the series. Click here to read it.

* Jonathan Tobin reviews "God's Warriors" in a Jerusalem Post column: CNN's False Symmetry

Other items of note:

* Correspondence between Hebron spokesperson David Wilder and CNN prior to airing of "God's Warriors"

* Sondra Oster Baras, who appeared in the program, wrote to CNN to complain about the show's bias and errors. Click here to read excerpts from her letter.

Action Items

CONTACT A COMPANY whose ad ran during the "God's Jewish Warriors" program on August 21. Tell the company that you are disappointed that their product or service was associated with "God's Jewish Warriors," a program that bashed Israel and unfairly smeared pro-Israel American Christians and Jews as disloyal Americans. Express concern that they tarnished their reputation for integrity by sponsoring such a show and encourage them to redirect their advertising dollars to more journalistically professional networks. Urge them to speak to CNN about the program's lack of standards.

Remember, be polite! They likely didn't choose which exact show their ad would appear in, but they can certainly chastise CNN for putting their ad in a shoddy show that angered their customers!

Partial List of Advertisers:

Intel
Submit a comment on their Corporate Responsibility "Contact Us" form:
http://www.intel.com/intel/finance/social/contact_us.htm
Or call (408) 765-8080 and ask to speak to CEO Paul Otellini

Brinks Home Security
Call Michael Dan, CEO for Brinks Company
Telephone: 804.289.9600
Email: info@BrinksCompany.com

Circuit City
Call CEO Philip Schoonover: 804-527-4000

Other advertisers included:

Salesgenie.com
Direct TV
Nasonex
Verizon Wireless
Volvo
Hughes
HSBC direct.com
Sempro
Wachovia
Anheuser-Busch
Centrum Silver

CALL CNN and leave a comment: 404-827-1500

No comments: