Melissa Joskow / Media Matters
Several major companies that have advertised on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show publicly distanced themselves from Carlson over the past two days by either removing their ads, pausing their advertisements, or indicating that they do not plan to advertise on his show in the future.
These actions -- from Pacific Life Insurance Co., Indeed, Smile Direct Club, Bowflex, NerdWallet, Ancestry, Jaguar Land Rover, Voya Financial, Minted, Zenni Optical, Just for Men, IHOP, SCOTTeVEST, Pfizer, SodaStream, Takeda Pharmaceiticals, the United Explorer credit card, Career Builder, and TD Ameritrade -- come in the wake of Carlson’s December 13 suggestion that immigration “makes our own country poorer, and dirtier, and more divided.”
After changing his tone the next night and claiming that he actually “like[s]” immigrants and immigration, Carlson returned to form Monday night, saying that his statement had been “obviously true.”
His despicable comments are in keeping with the themes that have made his show extremely popular among white nationalists and neo-Nazis. Carlson constantly stokes fears about the cultural displacement of white Americans and the ongoing threat to the national culture purportedly posed by immigration and diversity.
The flood of advertisers fleeing Carlson’s show comes just a few months after Fox News admitted that host Laura Ingraham’s blue-chip advertiser base had abandoned her, in part because she had compared facilities at which immigrant children were being held to “summer camps.” And as Media Matters President Angelo Carusone pointed out at the time, “Dozens of companies have removed their ads from Sean Hannity’s program, and even more have told me that they block Hannity and other more extreme Fox News programs so their ads never appear in the first place.”
The extremism and volatility of Fox hosts are scaring away their advertisers, leaving the network at risk of being unable to monetize some of the most-watched shows on cable.
Here are the statements from companies distancing themselves from Carlson:
Pacific Life insurance, which has advertised on Tucker Carlson's show for a year, said they “strongly disagree” with his comments last night about immigration and are pausing their ads on his show for the next few weeks as they “reevaluate” relationship https://t.co/o4eL7v5LCA
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 14, 2018
Hi, Diane Indeed is not currently advertising on Tucker Carlson Tonight and has no plans to advertise on this program in the future.
— Indeed (@indeed) December 17, 2018
UPDATE - @smiledirectclub, which advertised on Carlson’s Thursday and Friday night shows, tells me: “We are actively working with our media buyers to confirm that SmileDirectClub is no longer running our ads around any political opinion shows.”
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 17, 2018
NEW - BOWFLEX (@Bowflex) is pulling ads from Tucker Carlson's show: “We have requested that Fox News remove our ads from airing in conjunction with Tucker Carlson Tonight in the future.” https://t.co/zqx2jvXZIJ
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 17, 2018
NEW - NERDWALLET (@NerdWallet) is pulling advertising from Tucker Carlson's show and “will also be reevaluating any ongoing advertising with this program,” a spokesperson just told me. https://t.co/rtc1xJoyHX
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 18, 2018
NEW - https://t.co/hXn3RAsJ64 (@Ancestry), which advertised twice on Tucker Carlson's Friday night show (after the “dirtier” comment), now tells me: “We are not advertising at this time.” https://t.co/rtc1xJoyHX
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 18, 2018
NEW - Jaguar Land Rover, which advertised Jaguar on Tucker Carlson's show last week, says it does not have plans to advertise on the show again: “Jaguar Land Rover has rarely advertised on the show and does not have any plans for it going forward.” https://t.co/rtc1xJoyHX
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 18, 2018
We have no scheduled spots on Tucker Carlson. We’re committed to diversity, inclusion and equality – and respect for all individuals.
— Voya (@Voya) December 18, 2018
[1/2] Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We do not agree with Mr. Carlson's comments and his opinions are not consistent with the values we hold at Minted. Like other advertisers, our media purchases are done broadly across a number of networks.
— Minted (@Minted) December 18, 2018
[2/2] That being said, we are permanently discontinuing advertising on this particular program.
— Minted (@Minted) December 18, 2018
NEW: Zenni Optical has pulled their ads from Tucker Carlson’s show “effective yesterday.”https://t.co/uGqWmPTEcd
— Jenna Amatulli (@ohheyjenna) December 18, 2018
NEW - JUST FOR MEN won't be advertising again: “Just For Men has no further plans to advertise on Tucker Carlson's show. The brand is always considering ways to remain responsible, and this includes aligning with partners who share our brand values.” https://t.co/rtc1xJoyHX
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 18, 2018
NEW: @IHOP drops Tucker Carlson: "We will no longer be advertising on this show.”
“We stand for welcoming folks from all backgrounds and beliefs into our restaurants and continually evaluate ad placements to ensure they align with our values.”https://t.co/uGqWmPTEcd— Jenna Amatulli (@ohheyjenna) December 18, 2018
UPDATE!
We asked @scottevest if they'll continue to run ads with Tucker Carlson's show and they said:
“Since we buy on a remnant basis, there may be a few ads that run in the next week that were not able to be pulled. Beyond that, we have no plans to advertise.” https://t.co/xUYVWiB5T8— Jenna Amatulli (@ohheyjenna) December 18, 2018
Update (12/19/18):
NEW - ROBITUSSIN (@Robitussin) is no longer advertising on Tucker Carlson’s show. Pfizer spokesperson: “We are no longer advertising on the program.”
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 19, 2018
NEW - TAKEDA Pharmaceuticals, which makes Entyvio (a frequent Tucker Carlson advertiser), says: “We have pulled our advertising off of Tucker’s show.” https://t.co/rtc1xJoyHX
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 18, 2018
NEW - The UNITED EXPLORER Credit Card, which was advertised twice on Carlson's show last week, won't appear again: “We have stopped advertising on the Tucker Carlson Tonight show.” https://t.co/rtc1xJoyHX
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 18, 2018
NEW: @CareerBuilder drops Tucker --“Last Friday, we permanently suspended advertising on some Fox programming, including Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
“Our purpose at CareerBuilder is to help people build a life that works. Not some people. All people.”https://t.co/uGqWmPTEcd— Jenna Amatulli (@ohheyjenna) December 18, 2018
NEW: @TDAmeritrade drops Tucker Carlson.
A spox tells me that they aim to be “politically neutral” so “once news broke” about his immigrant comments they told their media buying team to avoid the show in the future.
https://t.co/uGqWmPTEcd— Jenna Amatulli (@ohheyjenna) December 18, 2018