The email for this article was deactivated after Office Depot - Office Max started advertising again on the Sean Hannity Show.
Media Matters’ web site reports that "Office Depot/Office Max ceased advertising” on the Sean Hannity Show. Mediamatters.org reports as its source two Twitter posts. Jeffrey Levin @jilevin tweeted on December 12, 2017 "Dear @officedepot, Please don’t further enrich @seanhannity. Our children deserve better. Please stop advertising on his show." Office Depot replied with its tweet on December 13, 2017 which states “Thank you for reaching out & expressing your concern. We can confirm that we are not advertising on Hannity.” Both of these tweets are posted here at Twitter.com
Florida Family Association sent an email to the CEO and Marketing Vice President of Office Depot on December 20, 2017 to ask if it is true that Media Matters had influenced Office Depot to stop advertising on the Sean Hannity Show. Office Depot has not responded to Florida Family Association’s inquiry. Office Depot responded to Media Matters’ communications but not Florida Family Association’s.
Florida Family Association is defending Sean Hannity against the George Soros funded Media Matters’ attack on his advertisers. Florida Family Association stands with Sean Hannity because Sean stands for our values. Next to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity is perhaps the strongest conservative voice in the media today. Sean is a true American patriot. Hannity has reported important news that no other cable news host has produced. He has relentlessly stood for traditional Judeo Christian values. Sean Hannity routinely gives honor to our military leaders, fallen heroes and military families in need.
Media Matters currently claims that it has influenced 17 companies to stop advertising on the Sean Hannity Show. Florida Family Association’s research has determined that Media Matters claims lack serious credibility. Additionally, even if 17 companies stopped advertising such results could be viewed as pitiful as a percentage of the total number of companies that advertise on Hannity. Contrast Media Matters’ influencing 17 out of 283 companies (6%) to stop advertising on the Sean Hannity Show with Florida Family Association influencing 630 out of 657 companies (96%) to stop advertising at Huffingtonpost.com and 207 out of 209 companies (99%) to stop advertising at Aljazeera.com.
The 17 number of companies Media Matters claims is much, much lower after analyzing the responses from companies it claims stopped advertising because of the controversy it created:
• Media Matters erroneously reports that Conagra Brands' Hebrew National, Reddi-wip, and Marie Callender's had stopped advertising because of the Moore and Keurig controversy it had spurred. However, Businessinsider.com reports “a Conagra Brands spokesperson clarified the timing of the company's decision to cut advertising, adding that it had no relation to the current controversy with Sean Hannity. ‘We adjusted our media spend several months ago due to the needs of our business,’ spokesperson Lanie Friedman said. ‘That said, we have not run on this program since August, so our decision was not made currently and has nothing to do with this controversy.’"
• Media Matters continues to claim that Keurig and Green Mountain Coffee (yes, Media Matters listed the company twice) stopped advertising even after the company apologized to Sean Hannity and informed his show that it would continue to advertise.
• Media Matters claims E-Trade pulled as a result of its campaign. However, Jennifer Howe, Corporate Support Manager for E-Trade informed Florida Family Association: “Thank you for your inquiry. We understand your concerns regarding this matter and would like to inform you that our decision to no longer advertise during this program was made prior to any allegations. Our advertising is not meant to endorse any content presented on any outlets we may use. Our focus is simply to provide the best trading and investing experience for all retail investors. Please let us know if we can be of further service or clarify any other concerns."
• Media Matters claims the YMCA pulled its advertising as a result of Media Matters’ campaign. However, the YMCA states as Media Matters quotes “The Y is a nonpartisan organization, and we advertise on many broadcast and cable networks with differing viewpoints to be visible in the 10,000 communities we serve. We have advertised on Hannity recently, but our current ad buy does not include additional ads on the show.” The YMCA does not state that it is pulling off of Hannity.
• Several other companies' statements were also taken out of context, overstated or embellished by Media Matters.
• Two companies informed Florida Family Association that they had never advertised on the Sean Hannity Show.
Overall Media Matters' campaign has had very little impact on the willingness of companies to advertise with Hannity thanks in part to the people who are willing to encourage advertisers to stay with Sean.
Florida Family Association has prepared an email for you to send to encourage Office Depot and Office Max officers and directors to continue to advertise on the Sean Hannity Show.
The email for this article was deactivated after Office Depot - Office Max started advertising again on the Sean Hannity Show.
Contact Information
Officers
Gerry Smith, CEO
gerry.smith@officedepot.com
Troy Rice, President
troy.rice@officedepot.com
Jerri DeVard, Chief Marketing Officer
jerri.devard@officedepot.com
Board of Directors
Joseph S. Vassalluzzo
Retired
Gerry P. Smith
CEO Office Depot
gerry.smith@officedepot.com
Kristin A. Campbell
Executive Vice President Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc
kristin.campbell@hilton.com
Cynthia T. Jamison
Retired
V. James Marino
Retired
Francesca Ruiz de Luzuriaga
Retired
David M. Szymanski
Dean of the University of Cincinnati, Lindner College of Business
david.szymanski@uc.edu
Nigel Travis
Chairman of the Board of Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc
nigel.travis@dunkinbrands.com
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