Uncle Roger's Notebooks of Daily Life

Advertisers pull out of KRXQ

If you're not familiar with the KRXQ brouhaha, a couple of on-air personalities (hereafter referred to as the "idiots") decided to use their May 28th show to make fun of transgendered children. They didn't just stop with name-calling, however, but suggested that physically beating them is the proper way to deal with a transgendered child. Not surprisingly, this did not sit well with the TG community, nor with any other civilized members of our society.

It was comments such as "Dawn, they are freaks. They are abnormal. Not because they’re girls trapped in boys bodies but because they have a mental disorder that needs to be somehow gotten out of them", "You got a boy saying, ‘I wanna wear dresses.’ I’m going to look at him and go, ‘You know what? You’re a little idiot! You little dumbass! Look, you are a boy! Boys don’t wear dresses.’", and "f my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes. I would throw a shoe at him."

There were phone calls made, e-mails sent, articles written, and boycotts planned. The radio station promised that the idiots would address the broadcast and their hateful remarks, but all they said, really, was "just kidding about the beating kids with a shoe part!" According to GLAAD, "While we appreciate hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States clarifying that they do not advocate violence against children, they ultimately failed to take responsibility for using dehumanizing and defamatory words to describe transgender children on last week’s show."

Of course, civilized people are outraged, but we all know that business is business and there's little room for sentiment in the business world, right? Wrong! So far, ten -- count 'em, ten! -- corporations have pulled their advertising from KRXQ in Sacramento. The first was Chipotle -- I sent them an e-mail thanking them and that evening, Jared and I both ate at Chipotle. I plan to eat there a lot more often now. They were followed by Snapple and Sonic. Now the list includes Verizon (KRXQ -- Can you hear me now?), Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and McDonald's. Makes me glad we use Verizon and Wells Fargo.

It just goes to show that sometimes businesses can make the right decision. I'm sure it was made so as not to lose customers, but still, it gives me hope.

Related Links KRXQ Sacramento Radio Hosts Encourage Violence Against Transgender Children GLAAD Call to Action KRXQ Radio Hosts Rob and Arnie Sweep Anti-Trans Namecalling Under the Rug Ten companies pull KRXQ Advertising

[ Posted: 18:00 | home | print ]

Update: Guitar Center Pulls Out

Guitar Center is the latest company to pull their advertising from KRXQ. Chief Marketing Officer, Norman Hajjar, wrote: "Last Thursday, I asked our media agency to speak to KRXQ about the outrageous comments made by their morning on-air team. I wasn’t satisfied with the station’s response. So we decided to pull our dollars from the station. It’s simple: wrong is wrong. We don’t want our brand associated with such epic insensitivity." (via GLAAD)

Posted by Uncle Roger