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Finally proof! Home Depot > Lowe's
This is horrifying that a company as big as Lowe's is conceding to some racist cray cray group (from Florida, of course).
http://news.yahoo.com/lowes-pulls-ads-tv-show-us-muslims-011436509.html
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A decision by retail giant Lowe's Home Improvement to pull ads from a reality show about American Muslims following protests from an evangelical Christian group has sparked criticism and calls for a boycott against the chain.
The retailer stopped advertising on TLC's "All-American Muslim" after a conservative group known as the Florida Family Association complained, saying the program was "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda's clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values."
The show premiered last month and chronicles the lives of five families from Dearborn, Mich., a Detroit suburb with a large Muslim and Arab-American population.
A state senator from Southern California said he was considering calling for a boycott.
Calling the Lowe's decision "un-American" and "naked religious bigotry," Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, told The Associated Press on Sunday that he would also consider legislative action if Lowe's doesn't apologize to Muslims and reinstate its ads. The senator sent a letter outlining his complaints to Lowe's Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Niblock.
"The show is about what it's like to be a Muslim in America, and it touches on the discrimination they sometimes face. And that kind of discrimination is exactly what's happening here with Lowe's," Lieu said.
The Florida group sent three emails to its members, asking them to petition Lowe's to pull its advertising. Its website was updated to say that "supporters' emails to advertisers make a difference."
Suehaila Amen, whose family is featured on "All-American Muslim," said she was disappointed by the Lowe's decision.
"I'm saddened that any place of business would succumb to bigots and people trying to perpetuate their negative views on an entire community," Amen, 32, told The Detroit News on Sunday.
Lowe's issued a statement Sunday apologizing for having "managed to make some people very unhappy."
"Individuals and groups have strong political and societal views on this topic, and this program became a lightning rod for many of those views," the statement said. "As a result we did pull our advertising on this program. We believe it is best to respectfully defer to communities, individuals and groups to discuss and consider such issues of importance."
The North Carolina-based company did not say whether it would reinstate advertising on the show.
The apology doesn't go far enough, Lieu said. The senator vowed to look into whether Lowe's violated any California laws and said he would also consider drafting a senate resolution condemning the company's actions.
"We want to raise awareness so that consumers will know during this holiday shopping season that Lowe's is engaging in religious discrimination," Lieu said.
Besides an apology and reinstatement of the ads, Lieu said he hoped Lowe's would make an outreach to the community about bias and bigotry.
Lieu's office said a decision was expected Wednesday or Thursday on whether to proceed with the boycott.
Lowe's issued another statement later Sunday, saying company officials are seeking to talk to Lieu about his concerns and clarify the company's position.
"We are aware of the senator's comments and have reached out to his office to arrange an opportunity for us to speak with him directly to hear his thoughts," the statement read.
Dawud Walid, Michigan director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group felt "extreme disappointment" at Lowe's "capitulation to bigotry."
Walid said he has heard expressions of anger and calls for a boycott by Muslims but said a key to resolving the Lowe's advertising controversy will be how non-Muslim religious leaders and others react to Lowe's decision.
"I will be picking up the phone tomorrow to some of our friends and allies to explain the situation to them," Walid said Sunday.
Re: Finally proof! Home Depot > Lowe's
I think this makes me especially angry because of everything that's going in Jacksonville with Khan buying the team. A woman at work was wearing a leopard print scarf last week and said this was the last season she could wear it because she couldn't support the team next season. I asked why not and she said because why would anyone support a team owned by a terrorist.
The people all around where we have our season tickets have the same sentiment. They said they're not renewning their tickets next year because they don't support the team being owned by an illegal (WTF??).
Also at the MNF game, we were tailgating and there was a big group next to us. Some middle eastern looking guys walked by (in full on Jags stuff! not even Charger fans!) and the group next to us starting heckling them, calling them terrorists, making whooping noises, etc. It was so hateful and disgusting.
ETA: Khan isn't even Muslim that I'm aware of, but just the whole unaccepting attitude and painting anyone with a terrorist brush is making me so sad (and makes me hate old people more).
Thanks, LB. I was going to try to find a good email address for that later to do the same. (ETA: just to clarify, i meant that now you saved me from the leg-work of doing so, not that I am still planning on finding a better one. lol) We shop there ALL THE TIME and it really disgusts me.
(Though, sidebar, I think taking legal action against them for discrimination is a little silly and a waste of time when there are so many other issues in this country!)
ITA with this part. And I'm not sure how what they did even justifies any legal action? I think Lowe's should be able to advertise or not wherever the hell they want, but I would hope the backlash from this one will be enough to make them reconsider.
Although I imagine there are crazy bigot message boards somewhere saying, "Look at this awesome thing Lowe's did! Here's the CEO's email address to tell him how great it is that he's sticking to America's roots!" lol
It's either a really short-sighted and not well thought out decision by Lowes' (that's giving them the benefit of the doubt) or that's how their management truly feels. Either way it's disgusting that they would capitulate to such ignorance and racism.
I'm fine with reviewing to see if any laws were broken or not. Civil rights and discrimination are an on-going issue in this country and something I'd like to see continue to be upheld to the utmost standards...unlike the GOP's constant barrage against how to make abortions harder and more expensive without actually overturning Roe v Wade.
ITA. Not sure if it's the part of me that wants to believe that people are generally good or the part that really likes shopping at Lowe's, but I really hope that they come out and say, yeno, this was action taken by someone in our advertising department and we don't support it at all, and we encourage americans to be open-minded and open-hearted etc...... It seems less likely that that will happen the more I hear, sadly.
Also, on a somewhat-related note.... There's a part of me that really wants to lash out at the salvation army bell-ringers, but I realize that the person spending their time collecting money may not actually know about the politics of the organization.
I have not heard anyone talk like this about Khan. I am thankful I haven't seen or heard anything like that because I would flip. That is so awful. Please tell me someone said something to the group of people heckling the guys.
Yeah... I'm sure the goal was to remain neutral and not piss anyone off, but obviously they didn't think about any adverse effects. It isn't going to stop me from shopping there though... they still have better stuff than HD
And ugh, FL people.... seriously? It's the people here that ruin such an otherwise beautiful city/place to live. I told DH that our born-and-raised-in-Jax neighbors/his friends are slowly turning him into a redneck and we can't live here too much longer.
I said it was disgusting, but didn't take it any further because they were pretty drunk and I didn't want to start anything.
I wasn't going to touch this thread with a 10 foot pole because this makes me too angry to even go there. I've seen/heard too much of this crap since I moved down south. As far as Jacksonville is concerned, I couldn't have expressed my feelings any better than jennasue. Geographically, I love Jacksonville. Socially, I absolutely despise it.