Limbaugh's jabs at Michael J. Fox may cost ad dollars
We're hearing Rush Limbaugh's recent jabs at Michael J. Fox's pleas for stem cell research and his subsequent imitations (seen on his studio cam) of Fox's debilitating disease (Parkinson's) may cost the show some ad dollars - especially pharma.
Said a source: "There's been a lot of client backlash to the Rush Limbaugh thing with Michael J. Fox. One client called with some profanities from a buyer, saying his father has Parkinson's. He was absolutely out of his mind, he couldn't believe this happened. I think Rush went too far here. Michael J. Fox is a very beloved guy; Parkinson's is a very serious disease. Limbaugh was taunting him, impersonating Fox's illness on his video feed...Clients are really, really livid about this. One said, 'How can any pharmaceutical company put any money into the Rush Limbaugh show after he taunted someone with a serious disability?' I think this is going to have a big impact on him, especially going into the upfront."
Indeed, one buyer we spoke to wouldn't touch the subject and is in favor of stem cell research. "Didn't want to stoop to Rush's level." Needless to say, the off-record commentary on Rush was not positive.
Seems everyone knows of someone who can or could have potentially benefited from the research. Fox is trying to please those against it by shooting for a middle of the road policy on it. Rush's humor on the matter may have touched a lot of folks.
Observed Rich Russo, JL Media's SVP/Director of Broadcast Services: "First of all, he's a talk show host, not a newscaster, not a politician - basically he's become a shock jock, nothing he says should ever matter, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Some clients got pissed off when he did drugs, some clients got pissed when he broke the law in the Dominican Republic, some clients got pissed with his racial remarks about Donovan McNabb. And some clients are going to get pissed over the Michael J. Fox thing. Was it tasteless? Hell yeah. Was it inappropriate? No doubt about it. I have a good friend with Parkinson's and he's actually happy about it, because with Rush being the jackass he is, will create more awareness to the disease. More people will research it and maybe people on the fence about stem cell research will now favor it. How does all of this affect business? It doesn't in the scheme of things. The first thing a client will do is step back from any emotion and ask themselves, 'does he still reach my target? Will any backlash affect my sales or stop my phones ringing?' At that point, the decisions get made. It would also be hard for any knee-jerk reactions because to Rush's credit, for once in his life, actually apologized for this immediately and with a little more sincerity than usual. I give him credit for not getting Karl Rove involved and creating some wacky spin that Parkinson's is caused by the devil and people who live in blue states. So we should at least respect Rush's maturity."
Meanwhile, Fox trumps radio talker Rush Limbaugh 3-to-1 in popularity, but their public dispute involving stem cell research does not appear to have swayed many Americans on the issue, according to a new CNN poll. The survey, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, found 54% of Americans support federal funding for stem cell research. That's up 3 points from August, but within the poll's sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points: "Three-quarters of respondents said they have a favorable opinion of Fox; only 26% felt that way about Limbaugh, while a majority, 58%, said they have an unfavorable opinion of the conservative talk-show host."
