Left-wing lawyers Slater & Gordon heads a large list of firms yet to withdraw advertising from The Alan Jones’ Breakfast Show as pressure mounts on the conservative shock jock over his disgraceful Julia Gillard comments.
UPDATE 3:45pm: Slaters has pulled its ads from Jones and 2GB and issued a statement saying it “stands with thousands of Australians who would want us to advertise elsewhere”.
There are now 40 companies that have withdrawn their support including McDonald’s, Harvey Norman and Toyota. Read the full list here.
Slater & Gordon’s conveyancing division was plugged twice this morning on Jones’ 2GB show, alongside ads from leading corporates including Hyundai, Honda, Volkswagen, Seven West Media, McDonald’s, The Australian and Bee Gee Barry Gibb.
The Slaters connection is a curious one given Jones has spent countless hours this year bagging Gillard, a former Slaters partner, over the Bruce Wilson/AWU affair including this infamous interview with sacked 2UE presenter Michael Smith.
As Crikey hit the button early this afternoon, the listed lawyers’ Facebook and Twitter page had recorded complaints, however its official spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Advertisers that dragged back their dignity and pulled ads from the Jones circus include Bing Lee, Coles, Woolworths, Mercedes-Benz, Dilmah Tea, ING Direct, Freedom Furniture, Challenger Limited and The Australian International Motor Show.
After today’s program, Hyundai — which was read out five times during Jones’ 210 minutes on the air — announced its ads would cease. Honda has also pulled out but Seven is likely to remain after network boss Kerry Stokes publicly pledged his on-air support.
Jones and 2GB owner Macquarie Radio Network’s (70% controlled by John Singleton) bottom line could be permanently cruelled by the withdrawal of advertisers if the experience of fellow shock-jock Kyle Sandilands is any indication.
Crikey contacted several leading firms that withdrew ads from Sandilands’ Kyle & Jackie O show following his vicious “fat slag” attack last November on News.com.au journalist Alison Stephenson. However, Mitsubishi, Telstra, Harvey Norman, Blackmores, Holden, Medibank, Vodafone and GIO Insurance who all said their ban remains in place until at least the end of the year. Earlier this year, estimates put the total amount of sponsorship lost by Sandilands at $10 million.
In March, Sandilands told AdNews that sponsors were “coming back” to his show and blamed the boycott on “about four or five real haters out there that are bombarding everyone on Facebook”.
Sandilands and Jones have been duelling at the top of the Sydney radio breakfast ratings tree all year, although the duo attract vastly different audiences.
Macquarie Radio shares plunged 6.25% or four cents this morning to 60 cents against a small jump in the broader market and gains from other media stocks.
Here’s a list of the advertisers on Jones’ show in order of broadcast this morning, brought to you by the savvy media monitors at Destroy the Joint.
5.30am Fat Away, Add Build Additions, NSW Trustee and Guardian (NSW govt), Pacific Point Hornsby, Sydney City Opel, Coles Liquorland — Shell Coles Express
6.08: Rinnai Infinity Continuous Flow gas hot water, NSW Miners, Ford Range, State Custodian Mortgage Co., Sydney Symphony, Pain Away Cream and Spray, Gerard Malouf and co — lawyers, Channel 7 — Winners and Losers, Ticketmaster — Barry Gibb solo tour, Inner West Dental Implant Centre, Pacific Point Luxury Apartments, 7-Eleven, Seconds World, Hyundai, Wyatt Attorneys Compensation lawyers, Inner West Dental Implant Centre, Brydens Compensation Lawyers, Bissell Lift-Off deep cleaner, Rawson Homes,
6.52: Winning Appliances — Smegg, Park n Fly, Hyundai — long ad, Sydney City Opel, 7-Eleven, West End Mazda (weather), Peters of Kensington
6.30-7.00: Channel Seven — Winners and Losers promo, Barry Gibb at Sydney Entertainment Centre, Inner West Dental Implant Centre, 7-Eleven slurpees, Hyundai, Wyatt Attorneys, Brydens Compensation Lawyers, Bissell Lift-Off Deep Cleaner, Rawson Homes, Winning Appliances, Park and Fly, Hyundai, Kelly Country, Westend Mazda, Peters of Kensington, Cruise Scene
7.05: Fat Away, Sydney Implant Institute, Palmers Glass, Ford Ranger, Sydney City Opel
7.07: Slater and Gordon Conveyancing, Seconds World
7.10: Guardian Funerals, Oz Lotto, Warriewood Brook
7.20: Sydney City Opel, Hyundai, Sydney Symphony Clubs NSW Catholic Cemeteries and crematorium, Insolvency Hotline
7.30: Mazda
7.35: Fat Away, Channel 7 — Winners and Losers promo, Pestrol, Wyatt Attorney’s Compensation Lawyers, The Australian, Sydney City Opel, Slater and Gordon conveyancing, Seconds World
7.50: Sydney City Opel, Kennedy Health Care (Aged Care), South Pacific Private, Momentum Energy, Geeks to You, Schools Spectacular
8.04: Fat Away, Candalore’s, One Cover travel insurance, YouSave Chemist, Merrylands RSL, Sydney City Opel, Volkswagen, Seconds World
8.09: Pestrol, NRMA insurance, Hyundai, Turner Freeman Lawyers
8.12: Clubs NSW, Foxtel, Gerard Malouf and Partners
8.26: Sydney City Opel, Volkswagen Challenge, Peters of Kensington
8.30: Cruise Scene
8.34: Fat Away, Channel 7 Winners and Losers, Oz 4X App, Pacific Point Luxury Apartments, Foxtel, Sydney City Opel, McDonald’s, Seconds World
8.43: Bissell Lift-Off Deep Cleaner (available at Harvey Norman), Park n Fly, Wyatt Attorneys
It’s been a productive morning having called several major sponsors directly to inform them I will never consider buying their product or using their services while they still have a commercial arrangement with Macquarie Radio.
It’s no good merely complaining about AJ and having sponsors withdraw from the breakfast time slot, their ads could easily be rescheduled later in the day and the network will continue to make money.
Sheesh! When you look at it like that it’s hard to see where Jones squeezes a word in. Thank God for the ABC I say.
Whew, that is kind of exhausting just to read. Reminds me of why I don’t listen to commercial radio—I have always found it to be more disruptive and irritating than commercial tv.
Anyway it may be that contracts require a certain advance notice. According to the SMH “Honda Australia announced last night it had instructed that all its advertising cease on 2GB” which is the only such example I have read about. But it is the only threat that counts.
There is no mystery about Sandilands–his audience is todays batch of current and future hyper-consumers (and dumb/susceptible just like they want em), but what do advertisers think they are achieving with Jones’ audience of old geezers? Is it because these companies are run by old curmudgeons who secretly or overtly agree with Jones’ toxic crap? Or are the advertising agencies just so dumb, and treat their clients as totally gullible, that audience share is the be all and end all of metrics? (At least I suppose the Barry Gibb concert makes sense?)
I can report that Slater and Gordon are no longer advertising with Alan Jones or 2GB – see the email response below that I received from Angela Bell of Slater and Gordon:
“We share your concerns about Alan Jones comments and we believe that they have crossed a line of decency. Slater & Gordon has asked the company that arranges the placement of our media advertising to cancel any advertisements that had been scheduled to run on 2GB.
Slater & Gordon stands with thousands of Australians who would want us to advertise elsewhere.
Best regards,
Angela”
It’s a terrible day when there is trial by multinational corporations. Since when does it make sense to use multinationals to censors pond scum like Jones? These arguments should be had in the public realm, not decided by the purchasing power of advertisers.