Advertisers will be held responsible for the company they keep. Act accordingly.

In case you missed it, on Monday, JP Morgan removed all its local TV ads and digital ads from both Megyn Kelly’s show and all NBC news programming, until after her interview with Alex Jones airs.  The company doesn’t want any of its ads to appear adjacent to any promotions for the interview.  (Vranica, 2017)

Smart move.

On Tuesday the CMO Council published results of a new study from Pollfish, of adults in the US, UK and Canada, which indicated that 48% of consumers will even abandon brands they love if their ads run alongside offensive online content.  37% say it will change the way they feel about a brand, 11% say they will discontinue using it.  And, 9% say they would become a vocal critic of the brand. (Sullivan, 2017)

So clearly the tide has turned.  And advertisers need to listen.  I'm an advocate of free speech, but I am not willing to financially support content I find offensive.  And the old line "we don't censor content" isn't cutting it anymore.  We all make choices.

Vranica, S. (2017, June 12)  J.P. Morgan Removes NBC News Ads Over Megyn Kelly Interview With Alex Jones.  wsj.com.  Retrieved June 16, 2017, from  https://www.wsj.com/articles/j-p-morgan-removes-nbc-news-ads-over-megyn-kelly-interview-with-alex-jones-1497311738

Sullivan, L. (2017, June 13) Brand Love Means Nothing When Ads Run Next To Offensive Content, CMO Council Says. mediapost.com.  Retrieved June 16, 2017, from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/302748/brand-love-means-nothing-when-ads-run-next-to-offe.html?edition=