[Dialogue] Two Top Sponsors Pull Ads From Imus Show

[Harry Wainwright]

 <http://www.nytimes.com/>  <http://www.nytimes.com/> The New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/> 

 




  _____  

April 11, 2007

Two Top Sponsors Pull Ads From Imus Show 

By LOUISE STORY

As the backlash against Don Imus
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/i/don_imus/index
.html?inline=nyt-per>  grows, General Motors
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corpor
ation/index.html?inline=nyt-org>  and American Express
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/american_express_comp
any/index.html?inline=nyt-org>  said today that they, too, will pull their
advertisements from his program. 

American Express was the fourth largest advertiser on the simulcast of "Imus
in the Morning" on MSNBC, spending $1.2 million during the show in 2006,
according to estimates from Monitor-Plus, a unit of the Nielsen Company. And
the credit card company was also among the top spenders on the radio program
aired by CBS
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/cbs_corporation/index
.html?inline=nyt-org>  Radio. 

The company will no longer advertise on Mr. Imus's show because of his
controversial remarks last week, said Judy Tenzer, a spokeswoman for
American Express. American Express will continue to advertise on other MSNBC
shows, she said.

General Motors was one of the radio program's top advertisers last year, but
the company stopped advertising on it earlier this year in a decision
unrelated to Mr. Imus's racial insults about the Rutgers women's basketball
team, said Ryndee Carney, a spokeswoman for General Motors. On Tuesday, Ms.
Carney said the company would continue to advertise on the MSNBC show.

"This doesn't mean that we either agree or disagree with the views that are
expressed on the show," Ms. Carney said Tuesday. "We are a sponsor."

This morning, General Motors issued a statement saying that it will suspend
its advertising while monitoring the situation.

On Tuesday, Staples said it had asked MSNBC to remove it from the show, and
Procter
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/procter_and_gamble/in
dex.html?inline=nyt-org> & Gamble said it would temporarily suspend its
advertising altogether from MSNBC.

 

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2007 The New York Times Company <http://www.nytco.com/>  

 

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