A NUMBER of brands have ended or are investigating their advertising with the Daily Mail after a controversial column by Richard Littlejohn.
Littlejohn wrote an article criticising Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black, who are expecting a child, decrying the view that having two gay parents could be considered normal.
His comments included him saying children "benefit most from being raised by a man and a woman", and he went on to discuss the case of a transgender woman breastfeeding.
The columnist was accused of homophobia and transphobia, with social media users asking firms whose adverts appeared alongside the article online whether they were comfortable associating their brand with the the views.
In response, Center Parcs and the Southbank Centre both announced that they would end their advertising with the Daily Mail.
1/2 We take where we advertise very seriously and have a number of steps to prevent our advertising from appearing alongside inappropriate content. We felt this placement was completely unacceptable and therefore ceased advertising with the Daily Mail with immediate effect.
— Center Parcs UK (@CenterParcsUK) February 16, 2018
2/2 We apologise for any offence this may have caused. Clare
— Center Parcs UK (@CenterParcsUK) February 16, 2018
Southbank Centre reaches out to audiences through wide-ranging online and offline media titles, across the political spectrum. 1/2
— Southbank Centre (@southbankcentre) February 16, 2018
We monitor the environment in which our advertising appears, to ensure the values of a publication are compatible with our own. We have no future plans to advertise within the Daily Mail. 2/2
— Southbank Centre (@southbankcentre) February 16, 2018
NatWest, Bettys and AutoTrader all said they would investigate why their adverts appeared alongside the article, with Electronic Arts saying it had ensured this would no longer be the case.
The Stop Funding Hate campaign, which encourages advertisers to end their relationships with media organisations promoting hate, was behind the drive.
Firms including Vodafone, Ford and Co-op were also being urged to take action.
Hey Sarah - We wanted to reach out and thank you for bringing this to our attention earlier this morning. We've worked with our teams throughout the day to ensure that the placement of any advertisement is not done parallel to messages that go against our values.
— EA UK (@electronicarts) February 16, 2018
At NatWest we have a proud tradition of supporting our LGBT customers and colleagues. We take these issues very seriously and have multiple measures in place to try and ensure our material doesn’t appear next to content which is 1/2
— NatWest (@NatWest_Help) February 17, 2018
obscene, illegal or is at odds with our values. We don’t support the content in this article, and are investigating how our advertising has appeared here. Meanwhile we have stopped our TV ad from featuring on this page. 2/2 DR
— NatWest (@NatWest_Help) February 17, 2018
This is hugely upsetting and we can see why you’re angry. Thanks for pointing it out - we never directly or intentionally advertise with the Mail, let alone alongside this sort of piece. Full statement shortly.
— Above The Stag Theatre (@abovethestag) February 17, 2018
Thank you for making us aware of this. We are contacting our advertising agency straight away as we fully support the @StopFundingHate campaign.
— Ohh Deer (@ohh_deer) February 17, 2018
Hi Emily, we're reviewing the websites on which our adverts display to ensure that we don't appear alongside any content that is not consistent with the things we stand for.
— Bettys (@Bettys1919) February 16, 2018
Hi @CaffCast, Auto Trader does not endorse this article. We have measures in place to prevent our ads appearing next to illegal, obscene or inappropriate content. Thank you for pointing this case out to us – our digital advertising team is investigating as we speak.
— AutoTrader.co.uk (@AutoTrader_UK) February 16, 2018
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