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TWO NATIONAL ADVERTISERS CANCEL ON "DR. LAURA"
Company Executives Inform StopDrLaura.com of Decisions
NEWS from StopDrLaura.com
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 28, 2000
Washington, DC -- Two national advertisers have canceled commercials during Laura Schlessinger's radio program, according to information obtained today by StopDrLaura.com. The companies' decisions come in the midst of a growing controversy over Paramount's plans to offer the "Dr. Laura" show on television this fall.
StopDrLaura.com learned of the companies' decisions in e-mails from company executives. An executive with More.com, an online pharmacy, wrote to one concerned customer: "We do not want to have any association with Dr. Laura." The message was written by Alessia Johnson, customer contact specialist for More.com, in direct response to a customer concerned about Schlessinger's anti-gay statements. "We certainly do not want to give our valued customers the wrong idea about more.com," Johnson continued. "We do not support her views and we refuse to advertise with her again."
Another national advertiser, Amica Insurance, has also decided to stop advertising during Schlessinger's radio program. In another e-mail obtained by StopDrLaura.com, an Amica executive wrote: "We have also asked the buyer to verify that no spots will air during that show on any station in the country on which we are advertising." The message was written by John Connors, Amica's senior vice president.
StopDrLaura.com confirmed both companies' decisions today in conversations with executives. Bruce Mowry, More.com's vice president of marketing and business development, confirmed that a company-wide e-mail had been prepared on More.com's decision. Connors also confirmed his company's decision in a conversation with StopDrLaura.com.
The pair of former Schlessinger advertisers is unique, one a 90-year old insurance company and the other an aggressive "dot.com." Amica (www.amica.com) is the oldest mutual insurer of automobiles in the nation, while More.com offers health, beauty and wellness products online. Amica is headquartered in Providence, RI, and More.com is based in San Francisco, CA.
"These companies recognize that intolerance is bad business," said John Aravosis, a spokesman for StopDrLaura.com. "Paramount should come to the same conclusion, and drop plans to give Schlessinger a national platform for her anti-gay rhetoric." Schlessinger has labeled homosexuality "deviant," called gays "biological errors," and has claimed that a "huge portion of the male homosexual populace is predatory on young boys."
Schlessinger claimed on February 24 that she "never made an anti-gay commentary," then issued a heavily couched "apology" on March 11, but then recanted the apology days later. Schlessinger told a reporter for the Boston Herald that her statement was not an apology, but a "clarification."
ABOUT STOPDRLAURA.COM
StopDrLaura.com was launched as a coalition, and same-named Web site, on March 1. Since the launch, StopDrLaura.com has received over 15 million hits and over 700,000 unique visits. StopDrLaura.com recently sponsored a protest at the gates of Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA. In addition to their continuing actions against Paramount, and parent company Viacom, StopDrLaura.com is now organizing meetings, protests and other strategies aimed at local TV stations and advertisers.
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