Shady past promotes shady future
Rush Limbaugh is losing sponsors left and right after the right-wing conservative called Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute on his radio show. The security company LifeLock has decided to remain on the outspoken side of Rush Limbaugh.
The company committed to “relentlessly protecting the identities” of its members was pressured by media sources to comment on the Rush Limbaugh situation, telling the Huffington Post, “At this time, we are not making any changes to our advertising program.”
Yesterday Carbonite, GoToMeeting and AOL pulled all of their advertisements from the Rush Limbaugh radio show due to his comments. GoToMeeting issued what could be called a politically correct statement, “We have listened to our customers & have decided to cease our advertising on The Rush Limbaugh Show immediately.”
The surprising statement came when David Friend, the CEO of Carbonite, issued his own personal statement in a company blog, “No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show. We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.”
LifeLock stands by Limbaugh and this is not the first time the company has been in the media for questionable acts. After making promises to compensate costumers who were victims of identity fraud, the company was hit with a huge fine. In 2010 Wired Magazine reported that the Federal Trade Commission, “claims were bogus and accused Lifelock, based in Arizona, of operating a scam and con operation. The commission announced, along with 35 state attorneys general, that it had levied a fine of $12 million against the company for deceptive business practices and for failing to secure sensitive customer data.” Not to mention the arrest and jailing of LifeLock founder Robert Maynard, according to Phoenix New York times, for $16,000 in unpaid Casino markers at the Mirage in Vegas.
