Of course, companies are free to advertise with whoever they choose. However, when they make a political point of it, then there is a price to pay.
MPs, free speech campaigners and business leaders today turned on ‘anti-democratic’ IKEA and other ‘hypocritical’ big businesses cancelling advertising on GB News after bowing to ‘bullying’ from ‘sinister’ left-wing pressure groups.
Nivea, Kopparberg, Grolsch, the Open University, Octopus Energy, Ovo Energy and insurer LV have also pulled their adverts from Andrew Neil’s new channel, prompting calls for a boycott of their services for caving in to ‘zealots’.
GB News launched on Sunday promising to be anti-woke, pro-British and cover stories differently to rivals, with prime time shows already enjoying more viewers than BBC News and Sky News. But after just four days on air at least seven big businesses have pulled their adverts after a social media campaign whipped up by Stop Funding Hate.
Firstly, Stop Funding Hate is itself, a hate fuelled organisation. It is utterly intolerant of any political viewpoint but its own and that is hard left. GB News is a right leaning channel and in a democracy, such voices are a good thing; a variety of options for the consumer. But not according to the totalitarian scumbags in Stop Funding Hate. Being right leaning is not hateful at all. Indeed, the only hate I see comes from the oh, so tolerant left who think that violence and bullying are legitimate political tools.
As for the companies in question, they would do well to remember that the organisation they are bowing to and the Twitter echo chambers are nothing more than a tiny minority of noisy extremists. The vast majority of ordinary people don’t use Twitter and don’t much like being told what to do, say or think by the companies whose job it is to sell them stuff. Although reading that last sentence, when looking about me at people wearing masks and jumping to one side in case someone is too close, I might have to reconsider that thought.
Back on track, though, in the USA the leftists tried to cancel companies that backed the Trump presidency – Goya Beans being one. What happened? People bought lots of Goya Beans in a buycott. The companies that have decided that GB News – an outlet authorised by Ofcom – is beyond the pale, may well discover that it affects their bottom line and a good job too. Certainly they are all on my boycott list for life. I haven’t watched GB News and am unlikely to as I don’t watch much television these days. But I will not abide companies getting involved in telling me what to think or what I should watch.
Bugger, just renewed with LV last week, oh well I’ll change next time. I was partial to the mixed fruit Kopparberg but no more.
The trouble is the list of companies that aren’t bloody woke is shrinking rapidly.
The ones I deal with have complaints services – now made use of. We’ll see what the response is …
I wouldn’t support any of these wanky companies. GB news is a breath of fresh air for me after BBC fuzzy wuzzy bollocks for so long. Sometimes i wonder if i’m the only white man left !
Ingvar Kamprad who founded IKEA was a member of the Swedish National Socialist party in the 1940’s and had a close association with its leadership for many years. It seems that in the case of this company the desire for censorship and the suppression of freedom still burns brightly and that the apple does not fall far from the tree
The recent prosecutions for spying on staff was a bit of an eye opener.
Thanks for the heads up.
I get my electricity from Octopus Energy, will send them an email (they’ll probably ignore) asking them to confirm if and why they have suspended advertising with GB news, depending on the answer it time to change suppliers.
I was sickened to read that Octopus energy had also donated £180,000 to Black Lives Matter. I shall now be changing suppliers.
Quite so. At least you can do what you can to make sure the funding isn’t coming from you.
By giving in to these tunnel-envisioned, single issue, bigots, these companies are supporting the restrictions on freedom of speech. Will now boycott all of those grovelling to the workouts.
Meanwhile, what is the difference between a clitoris and Grolsch beer?
A clitoris may only taste of piss for a second.
Sorry about the autocorrect. “wokeists” is what it should be.
Fahrenheit 211 did a review of GB News, giving his first impressions.
https://www.fahrenheit211.net/2021/06/14/gb-news-launch-night-first-impressions/
Rather than being right wing as detractors are claiming, GB News appears to be more about balanced debate.
We currently have our cars insured with LV. Apart from that I don’t buy any products from the other firms listed.
Reading my last post I just realised that I’ve not been totally honest. I have quite a bit of IKEA stuff. Flat pack furniture started out as being very cheap and tacky. IKEA stuff is very well made and their instruction books are very well written and idiot proof. Elsewhere it has been pointed out that they have one or two skeletons in their closet. I wouldn’t normally hold this against them, we can’t change our past no matter how much we might regret it now. But if you are going to start claiming the moral high ground you need to make sure that you yourself are whiter than snow. Most of us have enough self awareness to know we are not so perfect and so we refrain from judging others too harshly. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.