I have now been in contact with roughly 25-30 companies over the last 10 or so hours. Most of them say they will take 48 or so hours to respond, so, for the most part, I have been completely ignored.

First, although the list on the recommended diary (which everyone should have read at this point and i am having profound trouble linking to) is good, a much more exhaustive list can be found here-

http://foxnewsboycott.com/

These, generally speaking, have been my tactics-

If on the phone:

1- ask to speak to someone in the advertising department (if you start with customer service, they will either feed you a line, or just transfer you anyway)

2- when they get on the phone, i ask them if they agree with the statement made on glenn beck's show (which i read verbatim)

3- when they say no, i ask them why they are funding a network that broadcasts hateful and disgusting things like this. Then i let them know that, unless they take action, they are going to face a growing boycott i won't stop at fanning the flames of.

An important thing to note: MAKE SURE YOU ARE ALWAYS NICE!!

Please try and remember that the people you are talking to are hired to act as middlemen between you and the people actually deserving of your indignity.



If via on site, or standard, email:

I just wanted to let you know that after what was maliciously and horribly stated on Glenn Beck's Program yesterday (6/30/09), I (and the rest of my family, as well as several friends I have talked to) will not buy ANY of your product/services (or product from any parent companies) until you cease your advertising on fox news. In case you weren't aware, this is a direct quote from yesterday: "the only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Because it's going to take a grassroots, bottom-up pressure, because these politicians prize their office, prize the praise of the media and the Europeans. Only -- it's an absurd situation. Again, only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them effectively, consistently, and with as much violence as necessary." there has been NO rebuke, and no apology from ANYONE at or related to fox news for one of the most horrifying things i have ever heard someone say on TV (especially as a native NYer who lost 2 close friends on 9/11) your support of fox news is absolutely unacceptable, and, as such, you will lose out on my business until you make it right. (we all lost people on 9/11, as new yorkers, and we can't even stomach a company that would pay a network money to advocate murdering american citizens with a weapon of mass destruction for the advancement of political goals) have a good day sincerely,

<my name>

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One of the things I am most curious about (and something I hope many of you, my friends, will comment on) is whether or not these responses I get are just cookie-cutter-copy-paste jobs, or if they are actually responding, thoughtfully, to my concerns.

I am about 99% convinced it is the former, but I try to remain generally optimistic.

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Companies I Am Waiting to Hear From:

Best Buy

Travelocity

Ditech (my email was forwarded to the Marketing Department for consideration)

Wachovia

Pillsbury/ General Mills

Travelocity

Remax

ProtectmyID.com

Office Depot

American Express

Franklin-Templeton Investments

Chattem Chemicals / Capzasin

Yahoo!

UBS

Tyson Foods

Target

Subaru

State Farm Insurance

Splenda / Johnson and Johnson

One a Day / Bayer

WebMD

Terminix

Rosetta Stone

1-800-Pet-Meds

IAMS

AT&T

CDW

Centrum

Comcast - I called them and the told me to call corporate at 215-665-1700, where someone transferred me to an answering machine of someone yet to get back to me.

Hertz

Lowes

Holiday Inn Express

Adobe

American Standard Companies Inc.

Dannon

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Companies That Have Responded Inadequately:

GM - I got an email back telling me they don't personally respond to customer inquiries.

Orbitz - They sent me an email telling me -

We value your feedback and sincerely appreciate your taking the time to write to us. It is very disappointing to learn of the situation you encountered and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced. Due to the detailed nature of this question, I must ask you to call Orbitz Customer Service at (888) 656-4546 from the US and (312) 416-0018 from outside the US. Our Customer Service Agents will be happy to answer all your questions.

After calling the number, I was told that I was put on hold for 5 minutes while they tried to find the number of someone relevant I actually could talk to. I was told to send an email to kit simon -- partner.marketing@orbitz.com -- and have yet to hear back

Progressive Insurance - They sent me an email as well-

Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you feel about the network on which our television advertising appears. We take customer feedback seriously, and we regret that you found our choice of networks objectionable. Certainly, it’s never our intention to advertise on networks that our customers and potential customers find offensive. We make every effort to ensure that our message is broadly appealing and appropriately delivered, and we’re disappointed to have fallen short of that goal in your judgment. Please know that we have passed your thoughts on to our advertising department for their review and consideration.

I am waiting for the advertising department to contact me (although I see no indication this will happen, or real faith anything was passed along to anyone)

Priceline - Very similar to the previous response:

Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. We understand that

you would like us to stop our advertising on fox news. We are always working to improve our service and appreciate that you

have taken the time to share your feedback regarding our advertisements.

We take your comments seriously and have forwarded them on to our

Marketing team for review. We thank you for the opportunity to assist you and hope you find this

information helpful.

I am, again, waiting for a response from marketing, though I think I reached the end of my road.

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Companies That Have Gotten A Response Back To Their Response:

Crest (and all subsidiary P&G companies) --

I recieved an email back from P&G relatively quickly. They wrote the following:

We appreciate your taking the time to let us know how you feel. We hope you understand the preparation of news programs is handled entirely by the staff of the television network, and the selection of program content is based solely on their judgment. Advertisers aren't given the opportunity to review news programs in advance. And the appearance of our ads on such shows indicates neither our approval nor our disapproval of the content. Still, comments like yours help us determine the placement of our future ads, and I'm sharing your comments with the appropriate people in our Company. Thanks again for getting in touch!

My response was the following (and i am still waiting for another response back):

Thank you for your timely response. However, you must think i am stupid (or else, i have never taken any sort of rudimentary advertising/economics course). Unfortunately, a non-response meant to brush my concerns over isn't sufficient when someone you pay advocates terrorism against the US in order to forward a political agenda.

Additionally, I find your response to be incredibly patronizing. Everything after 'We hope you understand...' has absolutely nothing to do with what my original email was about, and is a very poor attempt to divert away from the issue at hand. Yes, i DO understand how television works. Do you??

Do you happen to know how these networks are funded?? it's not by me, it's not by the government.

We hope you understand -- it's by YOU- companies that PAY THEM in order to run advertising. it's not like Fox news randomly picked your company out of a hat, and is doing you a service by running ads for you on their network. YOU have chosen that they DESERVE YOUR MONEY. if they didn't have advertising revenue from your company, et al, they wouldn't be in business (or else they'd be forced to markedly change their business model). So, as nice as it is that you can SAY you aren't complicit, the FACT is you are FUNDING THEM to make that kind of insidious and disgusting comment that trivializes not only the sacrifices of our troops, but of the valiant men and women that lost their lives on 9/11. AS OF RIGHT NOW, you find it PERFECTLY FINE that they said this. Additionally, AS OF RIGHT NOW, you will CONTINUE to give them money so that they can advocate this type of horrifying, violent action against innocent citizens of this country. AS OF RIGHT NOW, you are COMPLICIT in this statement because your MONEY made it possible for them to broadcast it. please don't play ignorant or stupid with me. and please don't assume i am either of those two. Saying you purchased the time and aren't responsible for the content of the program and/or network is greedy, callous, and TREMENDOUSLY irresponsible.. It also demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how television, advertising, and the media work as a whole.

My request wasn't that you go back in time and prevent yourself from funding fox news last night (as if i thought you paid minutes before an ad aired, - or, better yet, that they check what they say with all advertisers). My request was that THIS SPECIFIC INCIDENT should be MORE THAN ENOUGH to stop FUTURE funding.

i am a distraught and disgusted and no longer want anything to do with your company, unless you do SOMETHING more than feed me BS. thank you again,

Nextel-- This is the one that really got my goat, so to speak. If it wasn't for Sprint/Nextel's response, I would not have written this diary.

Thank you for contacting Sprint regarding the advertisement. It is our policy at Sprint to make advertising decisions based on the

demographics of the audience and not on the nature of the associated

event or media broadcast, provided it does not promote racist, sexist or

other offensive views. Our goal is to reach our current and prospective

customers through this venue; our advertising is not an endorsement for

or against any particular cause, candidate or political viewpoint. While we understand your disappointment in the advertising placement, we

would like to suggest you contact the event organizers, broadcast

network or political party directly to express your concerns. Your

feedback is important and we appreciate you taking the time to contact

us. Thank you again for contacting Sprint. Have a great day.

My response was based on the P&G template, but I added a lot, including-

What you essentially just said is "we choose based on demographics, unless the CONTENT OF THE BROADCAST IS OBJECTIONABLE" What this implies is that advocating a major weapon to go off in the US, killing possibly thousands of innocent civilians, is NOT objectionable??? it's not one of the "other offensive views" you consider removing advertising for? are you serious?

I think it is especially disgusting that you think that a network that promotes terrorism is not worth doing anything about, but if they said something sexist or racist you'd pull out (a hilarious ridiculous claim, given the history of bill o'reilly- but that's neither here nor there).

also, saying you "just advertise along demographic lines" is an absolute copout. MSNBC and CNN are both equal to or greater than foxnews when it comes to the 18-55 demo. Yes, i can do research on the internet. Foxnews' demo is 55+, which, by the way, is NOT your target demo. the wide majority of nextel/sprint users are 18-35, and laborers. not old retirees.

that was particularly ridiculous, by the way. perhaps you should pass this along to someone more suited for responding. This response just made my original problem and outrage worse.

Additionally-

First of all, I have contacted the appropriate broadcast network.

Second of all, thank you for giving me so much respect that you copy and paste a form email response to me. You really can't get any better than "event organizers, broadcast network, or political party." it doesn't take that long to erase the other two options.

Third, As I stated earlier, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR FUNDING THE BROADCAST NETWORK. it is because of YOUR MONEY that they, yesterday, got to go on the air and advocate a terrorist attack on the US in order for a political gain.

Walmart - This was, probably, one of the most head scratching responses I have ever gotten to any email:

Thank you for your inquiry. At Walmart, we believe the time for comprehensive health care reform is now. The present system is not sustainable and the status quo is not an option. We also believe in shared responsibility and support an employer mandate that is broad and fair. That mandate must be accompanied by strong efficiency provisions that will reduce health costs and dramatically improve the value we get for our health care dollar. The bill should contain 'trigger' provisions which guarantee that promised savings take place both for the federal government and for employers who provide insurance. We applaud the bipartisan efforts in Congress to craft and pass legislation. Again, thank you for contacting us with your concerns. For any additional information, we would suggest visiting our website at www.walmartstores.com.

I responded by thanking them for taking on a progressive cause that will help the US, but that I would appreciate them not just trying to quell me by sending me a pro-Democratic policy email, and that I would like some kind of real response (that I am still waiting for).

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Companies that have responded Twice:

Toyota - Toyota's response was almost the same as P&G's:

Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Toyota is sensitive to the opinions of our customers, and we respect your position on this issue. We have documented your comments accordingly. Please be aware that Toyota advertising is not intended as a statement either for, or against the subject matter presented in a program. Toyota selects and purchases advertising airtime contracts directly from various networks months prior to an actual broadcast. Toyota does not know in advance the topic or the guests that may appear on such programs. Hence, a Toyota commercial aired during specific programming does not constitute agreement with the program's content. Your email has been documented at our National Headquarters and is available for management review. If we can be of further assistance, please click on the following link, http://www.toyota.com/... to contact us.

My response to Toyota was almost identical to my response to P&G, so I will omit it.

My second response from Toyota was the following:

We apologize for your dissatisfaction with our previous response. We understand your time is valuable and appreciate the time you have taken to share your additional comment. It is through correspondence such as yours that we become aware of the reactions and expectations of our customers. Please be assured that your comments have been documented at our national headquarters. Again, please accept our sincere thanks for taking the time and trouble to let us know.

I feel like they are just trying to placate me, and there is nothing else I personally can do.

SO YOU ALL NEED TO DO SOMETHING!!!!!!

This is a call to action, Kossacks and lurkers alike. If you don't have 10 hours a day to email these companies, then pick 5-10 companies a day and send them the message!!

Nothing will be achieved unless we act, en masse, to put an end to this horrifying trend on faux news.

I'm sorry my first diary is so long, and I'm sorry I hate capitalization.

I am just trying to give everyone a good jumping off point, and, hopefully, a sense of how to respond (feel free to quote me directly)!

Thank you all for reading, and I appreciate and help and advice you have to give!

now let's get something done!!

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UPDATE--

day two of this diary is up

please go and keep sharing!!!!