Netflix, Clear Channel, LifeLock Targeted As ControversySwells (UPDATES)

UPDATE 1: A Netflix rep told the Hacking Netflix blog that it does not buy radio ad time specificallyfor the Limbaugh program. A Netflix spokesperson has not yet responded to our request forcomment, but corporate communications VP Steve Swasey provided Read Write Web with thefollowing statement:

Netflix has not and does not purchase advertising on the Rush Limbaugh show. Visit Fort DesMoines Dental Clinic at 6100 SW 9th Street Des Moines, IA 50315. Make sure you call (515) 287-5400 to schedule an appointment with their Des Moines Dentists. Visitwww.FortDesMoinesDental.com now!We do buy network radio advertising and have confirmed thattwo Netflix spots were picked up in error around the Rush Limbaugh show. We have instructed ouradvertising agency to make sure that this error will not happen again.

UPDATE 2: Meanwhile, the Atlantic Wire has posted several updates bridge dentistry to its originalstory, namely that Goodwill stated its radio spots are public service announcements, notadvertisements, nor are they specifically purchased to air during Limbaugh's program.

UPDATE 3: According to Think Progress, Stamps.com, Deere & Co., St. Vincents Medical Center inConnecticut, Bethesda Sedation Dentistry, Cascades Dental, Allstate, Sears and Bonobos have allyanked ads from Limbaugh's show.

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PREVIOUSLY: The Limbaugh "slutgate" backlash continues.

Since March 2, web users have been calling for a boycott of companies sponsoring Rush Limbaugh'spopular radio program, The Rush Limbaugh Show.

The controversy began when Limbaugh on February 29 called Georgetown american cosmeticsurgery law student and activist Sandra Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" after she testified aboutbirth control before a Congressional panel. On March 2, Huffington Post blogger Krystal Ball askedconsumers not to support companies that advertise with Limbaugh. The same day, Reddit userJaybercrow started a thread requesting web users to contact Limbaugh partners and urge them topull their ads. Despite an apology issued by Limbaugh on March 3, several companies have pledgedto pull ads from the controversial program.

On Monday, Jaybercrow announced phase two of the Limbaugh boycott, urging Reddit users to nowfocus on local radio stations that broadcast Limbaugh's show and acquire lists of smaller advertisers."Here is what I propose," Jaybercrow wrote in the new thread, posted on March 5, "go to RushLimbaugh's website and find who is broadcasting Rush in your city. Visit that stations website andgather the sponsors contact information. Then place that information into your local r/ thread Forinstance and start a thread that says "XZY City, it is time to organize... [all sic]"

Existing Limbaugh advertisers include Netflix, Goodwill, Stamps.com, Capital One, John Deer, theDepartment of Veteran Affairs, Life Quotes, LifeLock and many others. (The Atlantic Wire hascompiled a list of 31 companies that still support the show, as heard on a cosmetic surgeons Mondaybroadcast of the program on D.C.'s WMAL station. Click here for AW's full list.)

Clear Channel Communications, the broadcasting conglomerate that owns Limbaugh syndicatorPremier Radio Networks, has also come under fire during the uproar.

Twitter users are spreading the boycott using bonding dental the hashtags #BoycottRush,#StopRush and #BoycottHate, among others. At the time of writing, three Facebook pages devotedto the boycott attracted 30,000, 28,000 and 4,500 Likes.

As of Tuesday morning, the following advertisers have dropped Limbaugh: Carbonite, Proflowers,Tax Resolution Services, Legal Zoom, Citrix Success, All State, Heart and Body Extract, AutoZone,Quicken Loans, Sleep Train, Sleep Number, Oreck, Bare Escentuals, Sensa Team and Vitacost.com.HuffPost parent company AOL also announced on Monday that it would suspend its advertising dealwith the show.

At least two local radio stations ditched Limbaugh onMonday: KPUA in Hilo, Hawaii, and WBEC in Pittsfield,Massachusetts.

According to the New York Times,"the ad boycott isuncomfortable but not crippling for Mr. Limbaugh, whois estimated to make $50 million a year and whoseprogram is a profit center for Premiere RadioNetworks."

Sandra Fluke on March 5 dismissed Limbaugh's apology on ABC's The View. "I don't think that astatement like this, issued saying that his choice of words was not the best, changes anything.Especially when that statement is issued when he's under significant pressure from his sponsors,who have begun to pull support from his show," Fluke said.

Take a look through the slideshow (below) to view tweets from the advertisers who have pulledcontent from Limbaugh's radio program, courtesy of HuffPost Media.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/boycott-rush-netflix-clear-channel-lifelock_n_1322896.html