NBC ad refusal: Should there be outrage?

Should there be outrage on this or is it just another example of a corporation taking the easy way out? I wonder what will happen when someone attempts to stifle NBC's attempts at free speech?


From Drudge report



NBC REFUSES ADS FOR DIXIE CHICKS MOVIE
Thu Oct 26 2006 21:21:10 ET

**Exclusive**

In an Ironic Twist of Events, NBC and The CW Television Network Refuse to Air Ads for Documentary Focusing on Freedom of Speech

NBC Claims that the Network “Cannot Accept These Spots as They are Disparaging to President Bush”

The CW Television Network that the Network Does “Not have Appropriate Programming in which to Schedule this Spot”

NBC and The CW Television Network have taken a stand against the Dixie’s Chicks new documentary “Shut Up & Sing” a behind-the-scenes look at the incredible political and media fallout that occurred in 2003 after the Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said that she was "ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." “Shut Up & Sing” opens in theaters in NY and Los Angeles on Friday and in theaters nationwide on November 10th.

NBC responded to a clearance report submitted by the Weinstein Company’s media agency saying that the network “cannot accept these spots as they are disparaging to President Bush.”

The CW Television Network responded that it does “not have appropriate programming in which to schedule this spot.”

Famed litigator David Boies stated, “It is disappointing and troubling that NBC and The CW would refuse to accept an otherwise appropriate ad merely because it is critical of President Bush."

Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company stated, “It’s a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America. The idea that anyone should be penalized for criticizing the president is sad and profoundly un-American.”

The Weinstein Company is exploring taking legal action.

The rejected commercials for “Shut Up & Post” can be viewed at http://www.shutupandpost.com

 

No one has blacklisted the Dixie Chicks. People have merely chosen not to buy their CDs and not to go to their concerts. And last I checked, a newspaper, magazine or TV network had a right to run ads, or not run them. No government has done anything to curb the Dixie Chicks freedom of speech, which is all that is guaranteed them under the Constitution. No one or entity outside the goverment owes them the right to spout certain political views, and not have consequences.

They made a decision to take a political stance to alienate their customer base, country music fans. The customer base for Snoop Dog or 50 Cent would have reacted the same way if those entertainers gave a concert, then said on stage that George W. Bush was the best president in history and that they were registered Republicans.

 

Funny, but they had to add another concert in Toronto and their new CD is #24 in sales on Amazon.ca.

NBC has every right in the world not to run the ads--doesn't change the fact that they're gutless toadies.

 

Their CD sales are definitely not insignificant. They have probably been hurt, but to say people have chosen not to buy them is inaccurate. I'm fairly certain they were at No. 1 soon after its release.

 

Gee, is that why their latest CD was No. 1 for four weeks and has been in the top 10 for HALF THE FUCKING YEAR?

I have the CD. I like listening to them. I also have no interest in seeing them in concert, however. But according to hondo, I am one of the many country music fans "blackballing" them becaues I don't really care to pay a lot of money to hear music I can hear at home or in my car.

Let's see . . . NBC . . . owned by General Electric . . . one of the largest defense contractors . . . given almost $3 billion in government contracts alone in 2005 . . . . just a coincidence they would refuse to air the Dixie Chicks ad. Just a coincidence. Nothing to see here. Move along.

And hondo, I have the "right" to put up a "for sale" sign if a family moves in next door that isn't the color I had in mind.

Wouldn't say much for me if I did that, however.

But I had the right, didn't I?

And that's all that's important in Bushworld.

Those 6-year-old kids smashing Dixie Chicks CDs (on instructions from their parents) were just exercising their rights.

 

Outrage? Get real. There are more important things to get upset over rather than a trio of sometimes-blondes whining about how the whole country is against them.

They're still successful, they're still wealthy, they still bitch.

Me, I stopped liking them eons ago, but not because of their comments. IMO, Fly was worth buying, but after that, nothing they've done musically has interested me. Their whiny attitude makes me laugh -- I dislike them because of their music, not their beliefs.

I find it amusing, though, that Toby Keith wasn't allowed to perform on a network because he used the phrase "boot in your ass."

 

I would love to hear NBC reconcile its refusal to run the Dixie Chicks ad with its allowing the Borat ad on the air. This movie is going to be even more rude and offensive (and probably a lot funnier) than anything the Chicks have done.

 

You trying to tell me that it's a negative these days to exercise your rights as a consumer or a business, whether it's not buying a CD or not accepting a commercial on network TV?

And I have the right to sell my home whenever I want, and I'm not required to notify you of the reason.

 

Thing is, NBC refused to run the ad *specifically* because it said the ad was "disparaging to President Bush."

Yes, they have the *right* to not run the ad.

But their *reasoning* is chickenshit. And the fact that corporations are so in bed with this fear-mongering administration doesn't speak well of the former or the latter.

***

Granted, there are more important things to have outrage for. I have trouble developing outrage for such a pathetic display of patriotism, anyway.

 

Hondo, no one's questioning the right of NBC to refuse the ad. And as a publicly traded company, yes they're required to give a reason.

Refusing the ad just makes them cowards and they'll spin it any way they can to show it's any reason other than perhaps the one BT has shown.

I hope some of the shareholders start a shitstorm over this.

 

KJIM, this actually has very little to do with whether you like the Dixie Chicks' shtick.

This is about censorship.

The kind of shit I'd expect from Fox News ... not NBC.

 

NBC's in bed with the creepshow. Anyone surprised?