Companies pull ads from Tucker Carlson’s show after ‘poorer and dirtier’ immigration comment

Multiple companies have said that they are pulling advertisements from Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” a move that comes after the host said the “immigration crisis” in America makes the country “poorer and dirtier and more divided.” 

Insurance company Pacific Life announced Friday that it was pulling its advertisements from the program. 

Nautilus Inc., the parent company of personal training equipment Bowflex, personal finance website NerdWallet and SmileDirectClub also told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday that they are pulling ads from the show.

{mosads}”We can confirm that Nautilus, Inc., parent company for Bowflex, has pulled its ads from the Tucker Carlson Tonight show,” the company said in a statement to the news outlet. “We buy media broadly across many news networks, and do not target ads based on specific programs or hosts. However, we have requested that Fox News remove our ads from airing in conjunction with Tucker Carlson Tonight in the future. Aside from our decision to remove our ads from his show, we have no other association or affiliation with Mr. Carlson.”

“We are actively working with our media buyers to confirm that SmileDirectClub is no longer running our ads around any political opinion shows,” a SmileDirectClub spokesperson said.

A Fox News spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill that the companies’ decisions were “unfortunate and unnecessary distractions.”

“It is a shame that left wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed ‘media watchdogs’ weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech. We continue to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions,” the spokesperson said.

Fox News released the same statement on Friday after Pacific Life’s decision.

The move to pull ads follows Carlson’s comments about immigration in an opening monologue last week. An ad for Pacific Life was shown immediately following the comments.

The ad promoted the company as having been “protecting generations of families for 150 years.”

The company quickly received backlash on social media calling for it to distance itself from Carlson’s program.

Pacific Life said it would pull all ads from the show “in the coming weeks as we reevaluate our relationship with his program,” according to a statement posted to Twitter.

“One of our ads appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show last night following a segment where Mr. Carlson made a number of statements regarding immigration,” the company said. 

“As a company, we strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson’s statements. Our customer base and our workforce reflect the diversity of our great nation, something we take great pride in,” the statement also read.

“We will not be advertising on Mr. Carlson’s show in the coming weeks as we reevaluate our relationship with his program.”

A message from Pacific Life: pic.twitter.com/bDq9hzia53

— Pacific Life (@pacificlife) December 14, 2018

Other companies, including Farmers Insurance, Mitsubishi and Bayer indicated they would monitor the situation but were not immediately pulling ads. 

A spokesperson from Farmers Insurance suggested to The Hollywood Reporter last week that it would not pull advertisements from Carlson’s program, saying that “advertisements should not be construed to be an endorsement of any kind.” 

“Farmers invests in advertising across a broad range of networks and programs that reflect the diversity of opinions and viewpoints found across the nation,” the spokesperson said. “Advertising decisions made by Farmers should not be construed to be an endorsement of any kind as to a show’s content or the individuals appearing on the show.”

Mitsubishi and Bayer, the owner of advertiser Alka Seltzer Plus, are also continuing to run ads on the show. 

“Our advertising media is determined based on demographics and psychographics, not politics,” a spokesman for Mitsubishi told The Daily Beast. “Our strategic marketing intent is to share our key product news with consumers through a variety of media channels. We will monitor the situation and adjust our advertising if necessary.”

A spokesman for Alka Seltzer Plus said the company regularly evaluates advertising decisions.

“Opinions or views expressed by the network’s news programs or their hosts are solely those of the network, and do not necessarily reflect those of Bayer,” a spokesman for the company said. “Given the wide disparity of media today and wide range of public opinion on any given issue, it would be an impossible task to find a major television or radio network whose entire programming schedule appeals to all audiences.”

“While our programming environment choices may not always be supported by all individuals, we have very specific guidelines to ensure our commercials air in acceptable content. That being said, we regularly evaluate our advertising placements and make sound decisions to continue or discontinue based upon our beliefs, values and ethical considerations.”

“Bayer supports a culture that ensures respect, dignity and opportunity for every individual,” it said. “We also value the opinions of our consumers, and take them into consideration when making advertising placement decisions.”

Updated Dec. 18 at 9:06 a.m.