The Wall Street Journal reports that several advertisers, including Pocter & Gamble, announced that are pulling their ad support of the Imus radio show. GlaxoSmithKline is another pharmaceutical company whose ads run on the Imus show.Glaxo should pull its support and make a strong public statement about it. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it is good marketing considering that the company just applied for U.S. approval of its Cervarix vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. You want to reach out to young women, don't you Glaxo? If nothing else, women's basketball is about respect for young women and their ability to compete and live in a man's world.
Imus, you recall, exhibited his racism on his FCC-regulated talk show by referring to the Rutgers women basketball team as "nappy-headed 'hos." Then, in his apology on the Al Sharpton talk show, he was overheard to say "We Can't win with you people."
Lats year, according to the WSJ, Glaxo spent $277,000 advertising on the Imus show. I am sure the company would never advertise Cervarix on that show if the vaccine were approved -- Among the 2 or 3 million listeners to Imus, I can't image there would be any women teenagers.
Glaxo, listen, this is such a great opportunity to align yourself with women and parents of young teenagers who are outraged about the Imus Affair! And, as I said, it's the right thing to do.
Will you do it?
The whole thing with Imus is crazy. I honestly have very mixed feelings on the whole thing. One of the guys over at Highbrid Nation who actually worked with Imus at WFAN for years wrote a good article talking about Imus' views on race from the perspective of a minority that was around him every day. You should check it out if you get a chance.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we shouldn't be too quick to label Imus a "racist," but his remarks certainly are hurtful to a team of youngsters who didn't deserve it.
ReplyDeleteSo, I still stand by my call for GSK to pull its ads in defense of young women against this kind of vitriol. I believe such a statement by GSK would set a standard not ordinarily seen by the public who currently rate the pharmaceutical industry one notch above tobacco and oil.