Rush Limbaugh

Gadarian Digital has decided to no longer advertise on The Rush Limbaugh Radio show after the Limbaugh went on air and called activist and law school student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” last week for advocating for contraception access.

The reality is we don’t currently advertise with this show, but if we did we would have pulled out. Is our headline misleading? Perhaps. But perhaps not. So why in the world are we issuing a statement on this?

A few reasons….

  • We agree with the stand that all the other advertisers that did actually pay this guy money have taken to no longer advertise on this show – shame on you Rush.
  • It’s important to on occasion take a stand. I don’t know Sandra Fluke but I do think the issue is important and I do not like the way Limbaugh has dealt with it.
  • There is a huge “today” moment happening right now – if you Google Limbaugh at the time of this post a few news article about this story including this one by the Washington Post are actually being served up before Limbaugh’s own site! A few years ago perhaps the news cycle moves on but today, in a world where everyone who wants to have a voice can have one, this story not only lives on but it continues to grow. The lesson here is be very mindful of what you say. People can talk back, and then can even talk to your customers as Rush is quickly learning
  • Free publicity. Yeah I said it. I’m testing out a principle called News Jacking and I’m counting on the fact that Google and others might perhaps jump on this article (And yes you should share this article….) While I do not know who originated the concept of News Jacking I do know that the person who first introduced this notion to me was David Meerman Scott. You should by his book Newsjacking: How to Inject your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage. And even though I have engaged in such a 2.0 idea, that does not mean you should support me in my action any less (see points 1 and 2).

Of course every good action like this requires a quote so here is mine and I stand by it.

There are some core aspects that form the character of Gadarian Digital. Many of these core aspects actually have nothing to do with how I make my living but they are still very important to us. They also inform many of our “how we make a living decisions”. And despite us not actually advertising with Rush Limbaugh, we are pleased to also say that as a result of Mr. Limbaugh’s recent action we will no longer be willing to advertise with him moving forward.

David Gadarian – Owner of Gadarian Digital

A little opinion. A little commerce. A light digital insight. What more can you ask for in a boycott article?

Also just to give the non-advertising boycott a little more lift we are encouraging other small business owners who also do not currently advertise on this show to join us.

By the way, that was an affiliate link for David Meerman Scott’s book…

Photo Credit: Wikipedia