Vulcan versus Mouse

While perusing one of my favorite blogs this evening, Blognonymous, I read a post by Kvatch regarding Spocko's Brain. I've seen the editor of this weblog, Spocko, in the comments sections of many blogs but hadn't gotten around to visiting his site. Perhaps now I never will. . .

Spocko's blog is (was?) one of several fine San Francisco Bay Area blogs, a few of which can be found in my blogroll. It seems that Mr.Spock was offended by the angry rhetoric of several right-wing radio personalities on the local ABC-affiliated talk-radio station, KSFO 560 AM. I assume it is comparable to our own local pukefunnel here in Fort Wayne, although from what I've read this evening, it sounds far worse. . .To quote Kvatch, KSFO "has some of the most offensive on-air personalities in the Bay Area--a little like Limbaugh only half as articulate and twice as offensive".

Rather than call in and complain to the station (pointless), Spocko decided to hit 'em where it would hurt them the most. He made mp3 recordings of the vulgarities spewed by these personalities on air, as well as audio of these same personalities doing commercials for sponsors, often right after they'd finished saying the aforementioned vulgarities! He then not only blogged about this, including the audio he had snagged, but contacted major sponsors of the shows on which the attrocities had aired, including Netflix, Mastercard, and Bank of America, to alert them to how their brands were being presented.

Many of these sponsors pulled their advertising from KSFO. . .little guy makes a difference! Hoorah! But, sadly, the story does not end on that happy note. . .KSFO's parent company Disney/ABC, after losing these sponsors, demanded that Spocko pull the audio clips he had posted on his blog, even though they were posted under the guidelines of "fair use". When Spocko refused, they complained to his his ISP, 1&1, who caved in to them and cancelled his service.

Spocko is staying in communication with everyone via this site. You can read the full details of his story there, and I encourage you to do so. In addition, a support blog has been set up on his behalf: Kiss Off KSFO. Here is a sample of one of the letters that Spocko sent out to advertisers:

Wendy Clark,VP-advertising, AT&T

Dear Ms. Clark:

Thanks to radio hosts from KSFO your brand is being associated with torturing and killing people. Would your marketing people be happy to hear your commercial ran after Lee Rogers said this about a black man in Lincoln , Nebraska ?

"Now you start with the Sear's Diehard the battery cables connected to his testi*les and you entertain him with that for awhile and then you blow his bleeping head off."

(Audio link 2:30 total for context. Comment at 2:03 )


You should know the person calling for the execution and torture of the black man in that clip READS THE AT&T commercials on the air. Right now on KSFO Lee Rogers is THE VOICE of AT&T to the SF Bay area. (Audio Link from 11/16/2006 )

Sadly, calling for the death and torture of individuals and groups of people is a regular occurrence on KSFO 560 AM, owned by ABC Radio Disney.

Another example: immediately after the 6 am ABC Radio news on October 27th:

Lee Rogers: I say they catch the person, tie 'em to a post and burn 'em. Set 'em on fire.

"Officer Vic": Yeah.

Lee Rogers: Let 'em know what it feels like.

Melanie Morgan: Hog tie 'em first. That would be good.

Next, Lee Rogers talks about a protester at a Cindy Sheehan event:

"Whoever did that should have been stomped to death right there. Just stomp their bleeping guts out."
(Audio link 4 minutes total).

Within three minutes they called for someone to be burned alive and a protester to be stomped to death. If you dismissed the first clip as a "joke", note that in this clip they were clearly not joking

Melanie Morgan famously called for Bill Keller of the New York Times (and nine editors from other papers) to be hanged. (Audio link)

On Nov. 14th Melanie Morgan said this about Nancy Pelosi:

"We've got a bulls-eye painted on her big laughing eyes." (Audio)
Also note that Morgan reads the Cingular Wireless commercials on KSFO.

Of course political speech is protected, but I believe the FBI and the FCC frown on targeting elected officials for death or inciting violence toward leaders of any political party.

Because of how ads are purchased, your ad placement agency probably didn't know that Tom Brenner (the "comic relief" called Officer Vic) regularly mocks advertiser's products. Listen as he:

* calls Chevrolet's product "shi**y" (link)
* suggests an anti-virus product is part of a protection racket (link)
* pretends a cold pill is really a suppository (link)

The odds are your product will be mocked. If they don't respect a big client like Chevrolet, will they respect your brand?

And it's not simply calls for killing specific people or mocking products, the radio hosts at KSFO proudly talk about their anti-Muslim views. Based on my research, your business has rules about discrimination against people of other religions, so what message are you sending when your employees or customers hear your advertisements right after Brian Sussman demands of a caller:

"Say Allah is a Wh*re!" (audio)

Or when Lee Rogers says,

"Indonesia is really just another enemy Muslim nation. ... You keep screwing around with stuff like this we are going to kill a bunch of you. Millions of you." (audio)

Maybe you haven't heard any complaints. Would KSFO management let you know about complaints? Doubtful. Morgan's husband, Jack Swanson, is KSFO's operations manager. The president of KSFO, Mickey Luckoff, started the station format and has a history of defending hosts like Michael Savage until he was forced to fire him.

I understand you can't listen to all the shows you advertise on, no one can. You rely on the accurate representation of the sales reps and the show description. But you don’t need to take my word, listen to the programs. You probably won't have to listen long to hear something that offends or disgusts you. If you wish to hear the complete context on any clip or the audio during a date your ad ran contact me I have an educational archive of audio clips, I've listed a few below.

I want to emphasize that if you withdrawal your ads you aren't limiting their free speech, just removing your paid support of it. Some other company without the values you describe on the AT&T website can support them. You can choose to advertise elsewhere. This is really about YOU. Do YOU want to be associated with these comments? Do you want your company and brand to be associated with these comments?

I urge you to discontinue advertising on KSFO during the shows hosted by Melanie Morgan, Lee Rogers, Tom Brenner and Brian Sussman.

If you want to contact KSFO here is a link to their website. If you wish to express your displeasure to their parent company contact Zenia Mucha, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, The Walt Disney Company PHONE: (818) 560-5300 CA, (212) 456-7255 NY or email Heather Rim, Vice President, Communications, ABC, Inc. heather.rim@abc.com.

Sincerely,


P.S. I would appreciate hearing your final determination in this matter.

Corporate Issues
Michael Coe,

Corporate Citizenship
Eric Hausken

Human Resources

Karen Jennings, senior executive vice president of human resources

*Editor's note: Spocko has found a new home and is now included in my blogroll here!