Advertiser boycotts of TV and/or the news media aren't new. But where does it go now -- with the auger of “fake news” clouding up some consumers views about traditional media
organizations?
President Trump keeps using those words to describe the news media. But as yet, we don’t see any business changes from advertisers that support journalism -- electronic,
print, or otherwise.
However, we do see some boycott growth -- a growing advertiser boycott around Breitbart News,
the big conservative online publication.
Trump hasn’t used “fake news” to describe that media organization. But advertisers took matters into their own hands, according
to reports.
An Australian-based ad agency of the Omnicom media buying group, according to a Buzzfeed story, says global brands have been demanding banner and other advertising be removed
from Breitbart News. A recent look at the site showed little-to-no advertising -- let alone with global consumers brands.
The agency, according to the report, points to a social media
campaign called Sleeping Giants, which works to shame global brands for advertising it deems racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and/or anti-Semitic.
Months ago, the Breitbart
boycott kicked off from the Kellogg Co. which pulled out its advertising. In turn, Breitbart countered with a #DumpKellogg hashtag campaign.
But what about “fake
news”? For many, this is misleading stuff -- or perhaps worse. President Trump has called out a number of traditional news media organization using this descriptor.
Trump has yet to call
for an ad boycott of these TV networks/print publications. Not too sure why -- especially when Trump called the media “the enemy of the American People.”
If his claim were true, it
would sound like crimes have been committed -- treason or otherwise. It would be helpful to know what those crimes are -- which would let TV and other media advertisers make better decisions.
If our President wants to help build a bigger economy and stronger business in the U.S., this would be the next step -- helping steer advertisers that have yet to make decisions about what is real,
fake, hurtful, racist and/or anti-Semitic news.
After all, it’s a complicated media world -- full of scams, bot-based media thief and questionable viewability. Companies should
look for more direction from our now hands-on, tweet-inspired, real-time business advisor -- our Marketer-In-Chief.