Where Imus Goes, Advertisers Will Follow
David Kiley (businessweek.com)
If Don Imus, the exiled morning dee-jay returns to the airwaves this Fall, which is widely expected, it won’t be long until major advertisers line up to sponsor his show.
Imus, who was banished by CBS and MSNBC last April for racially derogatory remarks made in reference to the Rutgers University womens basketball team, has freed himself from his contract with CBS and has been negotiating with other radio outlets. He has also reportedly been seen scouting comedy clubs and reviewing tapes of comedians, specifically African American comedians, to be on his newly constituted show.
Advertisers including General Motors, Staples and American Express pulled ads from Imus’s show even before he was suspended, and then fired.. There is speculation that he may surface at New York’s WABC-AM. If he does, look for second and third tier advertisers like mattress companies and car-repair chains to be the first wave of advertisers to buy what will be cheaply priced time on Imus’s show. If he behaves himself, and ratings climb, GM and others will almost surely follow. (more…)
Just yesterday I was thinking about the futility of certain protests. I remember back during the 80’s and 90’s when pornography shops were still pretty big seeing local churches staging protests in front of these businesses to show them just how much they disapproved of there business. Apparently what was not thoroughly discussed was the fact that what kept those businesses from shutting down was the simple fact that its customer base was right there in the community. In other words, the community itself was keeping the business afloat. You can apply the same thing to liquor stores.
The same thing goes for the latest campaign to shut down BET’s “Hot Ghetto Mess/We Got to do Better”. Black folks all over the blogosphere got fired up that BET would air such a program to the point that two of the show’s sponsors dropped the show. What was LARGELY ignored during the blog swarm was that it was Black viewers (along with some Whites) who were the ones submitting this material in the first place. What was also very peculiar was that the same folks who were calling for a boycott of the show (the folks over at “What About Our Daughters?”) were the same folks who gave a blow by blow critique of the show via podcast that same night. Did the boycott not apply to them??
Although Don Imus has never been on my list of favorite talk show hosts, I do know that if there is a significant demand to hear him, he ain’t going anywhere. Shock jocks Opie and Anthony may have lost their spot on free radio, but they have been able to find a new home on satellite radio with a significant fan base over which advertisers would kill.
Boycotts can be effective (or should I say The “THREAT” of a boycott) in that it sends a message to a particular establishment that you disapprove of their business practice. Beyond that, if there is a demand for that type of business or service, someone will think of another way of provide that service while you are still busy high-fivin’ yourself over your “We shall overcome” moment.
The Don Imuses of the world will never go away as long as there is an appetite in our American culture for such forms of entertainment. If we are really interested in seeing some change, we have to move beyond the mode of “sending a message” to dealing with the folks who feed into the success of such individuals. Not a simple task, which is why demonizing certain individuals over the ills of a society is way more fun.
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