Farmers Insurance And Fox Network: Advertising Partners?

Farmers Insurance initially resisted calls to boycott Tucker Carlson's Fox News show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, after he made comments opposing illegal immigration. The company stated that its advertising decisions should not be construed to be an endorsement of any kind as to a show's content or the individuals appearing on the show. However, after continued backlash and a social media campaign led by progressive activists, Farmers Insurance eventually pulled their advertising from the show in December 2018.

Farmers Insurance initially resisted calls to boycott Tucker Carlson's show

In December 2018, Farmers Insurance initially resisted calls to boycott Tucker Carlson's Fox News show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight", after he denounced illegal immigration, saying it "makes our own country poorer, and dirtier, and more divided".

Several major firms, including Farmers Insurance, resisted calls from director Judd Apatow and other Twitter liberals to boycott the show. In a statement to the Daily Beast, Farmers Insurance said it "invests in advertising across a broad range of networks and programs that reflect the diversity of opinions and viewpoints found across the nation". The company added that advertising on political shows "should not be construed to be an endorsement of any kind as to a show's content or the individuals appearing on the show".

However, after initially sticking by the show during the early days of the ad boycott, Farmers Insurance eventually pulled their advertising from "Tucker Carlson Tonight". A spokesperson for the company told TheWrap in a statement: "We have halted advertising on Tucker Carlson Tonight."

Farmers Insurance eventually pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson's show

Farmers Insurance initially resisted calls to boycott Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News, along with other major firms such as Mitsubishi and John Deere. In a statement to the Daily Beast, Farmers Insurance said it "invests in advertising across a broad range of networks and programs that reflect the diversity of opinions and viewpoints." The company also stated that advertising on political shows "should not be construed to be an endorsement of any kind as to a show's content or the individuals appearing on the show."

However, after a mass exodus of national advertisers following Carlson's remarks about immigration, Farmers Insurance eventually decided to pull its advertising from the show. In an update on December 28, 2018, Farmers Insurance spokesperson said, "We have halted advertising on Tucker Carlson Tonight." This decision came after at least 24 companies announced they would no longer advertise on the show, with some attributing their decision to Carlson's comments about immigration, which they believed were outside the mainstream and presented a problem for companies that could not afford to be associated with such views.

The decision by Farmers Insurance and other companies to withdraw advertising from Tucker Carlson's show sparked a debate about the role of advertisers in funding controversial media content. Some argued that companies should not support programming that goes against their values or risks associating them with hateful or inaccurate information. Others defended their continued advertising on the show, stating that their decisions were based on demographics and psychographics rather than politics.

Other companies that did not boycott Tucker Carlson's show

In 2018, several companies refused to boycott Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News, despite his comments that immigration makes the United States "poorer, and dirtier, and more divided." These companies included Farmer's Insurance, Mitsubishi, John Deere, Bayer, and MyPillow.

Farmer's Insurance stated that it invests in advertising across a broad range of networks and programs that reflect the diversity of opinions and viewpoints found across the nation. The company also clarified that advertising on political shows should not be construed as an endorsement of the content or individuals.

Mitsubishi echoed similar sentiments, asserting that their advertising decisions are based on demographics and psychographics rather than politics.

Bayer, the German pharmaceutical conglomerate, acknowledged that opinions expressed by hosts on news programs do not reflect their own and that it would be challenging to find a platform that aligns with all audiences.

MyPillow, one of the biggest advertisers for Carlson's show, stated that they make advertising decisions based on what is best for their company, customers, and employees.

While these companies chose not to boycott Tucker Carlson's show, it is worth noting that his comments sparked significant backlash and led to an ad boycott by numerous other companies.

Companies that did boycott Tucker Carlson's show

In 2018, Tucker Carlson, the host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Fox News, made comments about immigration, stating that allowing undocumented immigrants into the United States would make the country "poorer, and dirtier, and more divided." This sparked a backlash, with several companies choosing to boycott the show by pulling their ads. Here is a list of companies that participated in the boycott:

• Pacific Life Insurance: The company stated that it strongly disagrees with Carlson's statements and would not advertise on his show while reevaluating its relationship with the program.
• IHOP: The company emphasized its commitment to welcoming people from all backgrounds and beliefs and decided to stop running ads on the show.
• TD Ameritrade
• NerdWallet
• Minted
• Ancestry.com
• Indeed.com: The job search site removed its ads from the program, deeming it "highly polarizing."
• SmileDirectClub: The company indicated that it would no longer advertise on political opinion shows, including Carlson's show.
• T-Mobile: T-Mobile's CEO, Mike Sievert, tweeted that the company hadn't bought ad time on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" for about a month and wouldn't do so in the future.
• Papa John's Pizza: The company decided to halt future advertising on the show.
• Land Rover
• Lexus
• Samsung
• Walt Disney Company
• Sandals Resorts

While these companies chose to boycott Tucker Carlson's show, it's important to note that other companies, such as Farmer's Insurance, Mitsubishi, and John Deere, continued their advertising relationships with the show.

Fox News's response to the boycott

Fox News has faced several boycotts and calls for boycotts over the years, and has responded to these in various ways.

In 2018, Fox News faced a boycott of Tucker Carlson's show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight", after Carlson made comments about immigration, saying that allowing undocumented immigrants into the United States “makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided”. Over 24 companies pulled their ads from the show, including Farmers Insurance, which had initially stuck by the show. In response, Fox News blamed "left-wing advocacy groups" and claimed they were trying to "stifle free speech". They also released a statement saying:

> "We cannot and will not allow voices like Tucker Carlson to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts from the likes of Moveon.org, Media Matters and Sleeping Giants. Attempts were made last month to bully and terrorize Tucker and his family at their home. He is now once again being threatened via Twitter by far-left activist groups with deeply political motives. While we do not advocate boycotts, these same groups never target other broadcasters and operate under a grossly hypocritical double standard given their intolerance to all opposing points of view."

In 2023, Fox News cut ties with Tucker Carlson, and former NFL quarterback Brett Favre called for a boycott of the network, asking people to "boycott Fox until they come to his senses and let the man speak". It is unclear what Fox News's response to this boycott was.

Fox News has also faced calls for boycotts more generally, with a petition on Change.org asking companies to stop advertising on the network, stating that "Fox News is propaganda disguising itself as news". The petition had over 42,000 signatures at the time of writing. It is unclear what the response of Fox News has been to this petition.

In 2023, Fox News anchors implied that the network follows Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) guidelines, in response to calls for boycotts of Chick-fil-A over the discovery of a DEI-related page on its website. It is unclear what the response was to these boycott attempts.

Frequently asked questions