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3 votes (25%)
1 vote (8.33%)
8 votes (66.66%)

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pacomartin
pacomartin
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December 17th, 2011 at 9:39:24 PM permalink
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -- Protesters descended on a Lowe's store in one of the country's largest Arab-American communities on Saturday, calling for a boycott after the home improvement chain pulled its ads from a reality television show about five Muslim families living in Michigan. About 100 people gathered outside the store in Allen Park, a Detroit suburb adjacent to the city where "All-American Muslim" is filmed. Lowe's said this week that the TLC show had become a "lightning rod" for complaints, following an email campaign by a conservative Christian group.

I am really puzzled by Lowe's behavior. They make the decision to sponsor a show called All American Muslim which has the stated purpose of showing Muslims in America living normal lives. There is no possible way they could have thought that a show with that title would not be subject to some controversy from some groups. They act like they could never have predicted in a million years that there would be complaints.

This low rated TV show probably couldn't have asked for better publicity.

As usual, Jon Stewart's humor was dead on. The jokes practically write themselves.
EvenBob
EvenBob
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December 17th, 2011 at 10:05:32 PM permalink
Quote: pacomartin

which has the stated purpose of showing Muslims in America living normal lives.



Do you know any Muslims? They take themselves super
seriously, they wouldn't think a show about them is funny,
even if it was harmless.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
Paigowdan
Paigowdan
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December 17th, 2011 at 11:35:47 PM permalink
Paco,
Firstly, Lowe's cannot be accused of being "anti" this or that when they initially sponsored the show in good faith in the very first place. Over time, there later developed controversey, in addition to lousy ratings - it didn't crack the top 100 shows after a while.
Many corporate entities refuse to even touch it. Kayak.com abondoned the show after Lowe's, claiming the show - and its ratings "sucked" - to use their terminonolgy.
A business has a right to spend their advertising dollar as they see fit, and without political interference.
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes - Henry David Thoreau. Like Dealers' uniforms - Dan.
AZDuffman
AZDuffman
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December 18th, 2011 at 7:03:17 AM permalink
Quote: pacomartin

I am really puzzled by Lowe's behavior. They make the decision to sponsor a show called All American Muslim which has the stated purpose of showing Muslims in America living normal lives. There is no possible way they could have thought that a show with that title would not be subject to some controversy from some groups. They act like they could never have predicted in a million years that there would be complaints.



I think that sometimes the corporation doesn't even see the show to make the decision. Ads can be bought in different ways. For a Superbowl you buy the ad you want in the slot you want and negotiate the price. That price you see in the media is an "average" price. Ads in the 1st quarter will go for much more as the pay-attention factor is higher then and most viewers. In the late 3rd prices will be lower since a blowout will mean people not paying as much attention even if their set is on. This is how "big" sponsorship works.

But for cable they sometimes just buy "blocks" of ads put on rotation. They might just take rotation in History Channel and get some "Pawn Stars," some "Modern Marvels," and some "American Restoration" slots. There is also a thing called "Leftover Slots" or something like it where the ads are dirt cheap but you get next to no input in time and place. Any of this could have happened.

Corporations are mostly run by idiots, and the biggest idiots seem to gravitate to marketing (and HR to an extent.) For a place like Lowe's, most of their ads are made to keep the brand out there so people decide to "go to Lowes" instead of "go to The Home Depot." So what probably happened was something worthy of a sitcom where someone in the chain of command read about how "the muslim population is growing" and decided, "WE NEED TO REACH OUT TO MUSLIMS!" They told their agency this and the agency told them there is a show called "All-American Muslim." They said it was on the same channel as "American Chopper." An ad buy got approved and the rest is history.

Who is John Galt?
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
s2dbaker
s2dbaker
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December 18th, 2011 at 7:31:01 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Do you know any Muslims? They take themselves super
seriously, they wouldn't think a show about them is funny,
even if it was harmless.

Just ask Aasif Mandvi!!
Someday, joor goin' to see the name of Googie Gomez in lights and joor goin' to say to joorself, "Was that her?" and then joor goin' to answer to joorself, "That was her!" But you know somethin' mister? I was always her yuss nobody knows it! - Googie Gomez
cclub79
cclub79
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December 18th, 2011 at 8:36:39 AM permalink
Quote: Paigowdan

Paco,
Firstly, Lowe's cannot be accused of being "anti" this or that when they initially sponsored the show in good faith in the very first place. Over time, there later developed controversey, in addition to lousy ratings - it didn't crack the top 100 shows after a while.
Many corporate entities refuse to even touch it. Kayak.com abondoned the show after Lowe's, claiming the show - and its ratings "sucked" - to use their terminonolgy.
A business has a right to spend their advertising dollar as they see fit, and without political interference.



This is such a great point that seems to be missing from every story I've seen, especially with Lowe's protests in New Jersey and NJ pols denouncing the company. They sponsored the show to begin with when 99% of other companies DIDN'T, and STILL DON'T. So by their twisted logic, Home Depot is doubly anti-Muslim, because they gave $0 to support the show. Yet they are going out of their way to boycott a company that was an initial advertiser and helped the show get off the ground. It's just going to serve as a warning in the future...NEVER advertise on niche/minority shows, because if you pull your ads when there aren't any ratings, you are a bigot. So don't support them to begin with.
boymimbo
boymimbo
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December 18th, 2011 at 8:51:39 AM permalink
It was a dumb decision to pull the sponsorship of the show, ratings aside. Lowe's sponsored the show to (I assume) help dispel the myth that all Muslims are bad people and to pull non-radical Muslims into the store.

The sponsorship was pulled after some Christian fundamentalists complained (a much bigger part of their customer base, apparently). This is the stupid decision.

Well, Lowes has their publicity.
----- You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!
kenarman
kenarman
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December 18th, 2011 at 9:17:46 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Do you know any Muslims? They take themselves super
seriously, they wouldn't think a show about them is funny,
even if it was harmless.



There has been a reasonably successfull show running in Canada for 6 years 'Little Mosque on the Prairie'. It is a sitcom and has had no protests and pokes fun at everyones beliefs. Of course Canadians don't get as excited about things as Americans.
Be careful when you follow the masses, the M is sometimes silent.
pacomartin
pacomartin
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December 18th, 2011 at 11:12:38 AM permalink
Quote: cclub79

This is such a great point that seems to be missing from every story I've seen, especially with Lowe's protests in New Jersey and NJ pols denouncing the company. They sponsored the show to begin with when 99% of other companies DIDN'T, and STILL DON'T. So by their twisted logic, Home Depot is doubly anti-Muslim, because they gave $0 to support the show. Yet they are going out of their way to boycott a company that was an initial advertiser and helped the show get off the ground. It's just going to serve as a warning in the future...NEVER advertise on niche/minority shows, because if you pull your ads when there aren't any ratings, you are a bigot. So don't support them to begin with.



I am not disputing that Lowe's has the right to spend their advertising dollars as they see fit. But if you sponsor a show that you know a-priori will cause some people to protest, then why pull out because some people protested?

I don't think the above statement is correct. You should NEVER advertise on a controversial niche show, and then pull out mid-season because of a protest. If ratings are low, then you just don't renew the contract.
Calder
Calder
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December 18th, 2011 at 8:24:02 PM permalink
Quote: kenarman

Of course Canadians don't get as excited about things as Americans.


Except for hockey.
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