Follow Up of the Day: The popular travel website comparison service Kayak has reportedly joined home improvement retailer Lowe’s in heeding Florida Family Association’s call to pull its advertising from TLC’s All-American Muslim.
The conservative “values-promoting” organization lists on its site at least 65 companies that have allegedly recalled their ads, but The New York Times says many of those listed deny canceling their commercials.
“We didn’t pull,” a Campbell Soup spokesman said, adding that the company was considering advertising in future episodes. “Any claim that we pulled our advertising in response to concerns about this show are inaccurate,” a Sears rep told The Gray Lady.
Bank of America also took issue with the claim that it had withdrawn its ads. “We had a schedule all along,” said spokesman Ernesto Anguilla, “and it was set to expire when it did.”
Wal-Mart, another big name on Florida Family Association’s list, did not respond to the reporter’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, angry viewers and would-be patrons continue to sound off on Lowe’s Facebook page, where the corporate response to the backlash has generated nearly 30,000 comments.
The New Jersey Star-Ledger has stepped up calls for a boycott by publishing an editorial in today’s paper by telling its readers to boycott the chain.
UPDATE: In a statement on the company’s decision not to advertise on All-American Muslim, Kayak’s Chief Marketing Officer Robert Birge says TLC “was not upfront” about the “nature” of the show and “went out of their way to pick a fight on this [topic].”
He criticizes the show as doing its subject matter “a grave disservice” and concludes by saying “mostly, I just thought the show sucked.”
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