Rolling Stone: Boycotting Advertisers
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31 March 2011
In 2006, I launched a boycott against a magazine owned by a huge conglomerate. The Boycott damaged the magazine but the extent was unknown. Eight months later, the press reported that the magazine had died. (Early Christmas Present for Michael Yon.)
The boycott was not done on a whim. The magazine staff and other involved parties had perpetrated a series of egregious behavior before I finally decided to spend time to pursue them. Such is the case with Rolling Stone.
Rolling Stone has been around for a long time and has weathered many storms. They may feel invincible. Rome and the Soviet Union probably felt the same way. In this world, cities and indeed entire countries go bankrupt. Powerful billionaire dictators get hunted down and imprisoned, or killed. In the corporate world, we commonly see the huge and powerful reduced to the latest example of the bigger they are the louder they squeal. Nobody is invincible.
The boycott of Rolling Stone Magazine advertisers is gaining traction. The magazine has deceptively attacked US Soldiers and intentionally misled readers for sake of profit and power.
Rolling Stone life-blood is based mostly on advertisement revenues. Magazine sales off the shelf are not the driving factor. Advertisement prices are based on circulation and demographics, and they take in a hefty sack of money for a piece of page.
There is limited value in boycotting the magazine itself. Rolling Stone has an established readership that apparently enjoys mindless gonzo, and even if a hundred thousand people stopped reading, the damage likely would not be seismic.
In 2006, when I took on the magazine that went bankrupt, I studied their business, identified weaknesses, then focused the attacks. Significant damage was done by people who were upset with the magazine and who began various boycotts, while other damage was caused focusing energy on attacking relationships, which amounted to another form of boycott.
With Rolling Stone, the advertiser base is a mortal weakness. The concept of the boycott is to concentrate on advertisers and cause them to pull their advertisement dollars and put them elsewhere. Advertisers with budgets that can cover nearly $200,000 for a single page could care less about Rolling Stone per se; they care about the number of eyes seeing their products, and who those eyes belong to. When advertisers perceive they are losing money or goodwill from showing their product in that venue, they’ll pluck those dollars and place them elsewhere. Advertisement executives are just moving chips around on the table, and the boycott goal is to persuade them to move their chips away from Rolling Stone, and of course if they pull their advertisement from Rolling Stone, they can potentially earn goodwill.
It’s important to stress that boycotts against advertisers are temporary until they pull their ads from the perpetrator-space. In this case, Rolling Stone.
Most salient is the fact that advertisers in Rolling Stone gain benefit only from Rolling Stone readers, while a boycott reaches readers and nonreaders. The pool of nonreaders will be relatively enormous.
Businesses bleed like people bleed. If they bleed more blood than they can make, they will eventually die. You don’t have to squeeze out every drop like a vampire, but usually just a little bit, say, maybe 20% of the advertisement revenue gone might put the magazine in a dramatic tailspin. You might not notice it for a while because they can take cash infusions and so forth, but sooner or later they will shrivel like a raisin and just lay there. Dead.
Many people have become angry and loudly complained about Rolling Stone, all to no avail. The complaints merely egged them on. It’s time to cool the blood, and with an icy cold resolve, move forward with action. Boycott their advertisers and crush the Rolling Stone.
It is crucial during the boycott to contact advertisers to express that when the advertiser stops doing business with Rolling Stone, the boycott will end.
First go after the companies with the biggest ads, and also the companies with which you already do business. Use social networking to share information and when there is success, say it. Do not hesitate to buy a copy of the magazine to gain information before acting. Much information is being shared here: Michael Yon Facebook.
Boycotts take little effort. In 2006, I launched the effort and went back to war coverage. You don’t have to picket and protest, but just get the word out and let nature take its course. A strong boycott could be like a bullet with near instant results. More likely, with Rolling Stone, a persistent but growing boycott might act like a weak neurotoxin. Just keep dripping it out, and eventually the corporate biology will seize, and there will be spasms, and then, one day, you will open the paper and there it will be, the obituary.
Died: Mr. Rolling Stone, 45, San Francisco. Born November 9, 1967 San Francisco, California. Died suddenly last Friday. Mr. Stone was found slouched over an old typewriter after a brain hemorrhage, possibly resulting from an addiction to fiction in a nonfiction world. Services will be held on this Tuesday at 9am at the Church of Bankruptcy. Burial will be in the dumpster out back behind the courthouse.
Reader support is crucial to this mission. Weekly or monthly recurring ‘subscription’ based support is the best, though all are greatly appreciated. Recurring and one-time donations are available through PayPal or Authorize.net.
To send a check or money order:
Michael Yon
P O Box 5553
Winter Haven, FL 33880-5553
I will continue to do my part in telling the stories that are not being told. Readers must also do their part by keeping the cash flowing. Cash is essential .
Thank you!
Michael
Comments
I looking forward to your next dispatches from Afghanistan. I appreciate your front dispatches very much. In former comments I could read that the new book is soon by me. I am very curious of all the wonderful photographies. No worries, I am patently. So take your time. It's for sure worth to wait of it. I do wish you much luck for the coming tour. Keep up your great work as war corresponder. I know from many troops that they like your honest work very much.
Respectfully
Claudia
That is the most absurd thing I've heard in a while. A few bad soldiers do not reflect the entirety of the brave and courageous American soldiers who help keep many Afghan civilians safe.
Just like a few bigoted Afghan religious leaders who abuse and deride women and their human rights don't reflect middle eastern people as a whole.
The soldiers give their lives so that you can have the ability to speak your weak-minded rhetoric, at least show them some respect and appreciation. But, I doubt you will.
You sling your hatred because those soldiers & Marines that you call "paid and stupid volunteer mercenaries with no human moral values." fought to give you freedom of speech. all these people that are out there saying horrible things like this have to remember that you are sitting in front of a computer because they fight not you. They should be so lucky that we don't have the draft anymore.
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The clip presented here is excerpted from 'Motorcycle Kill,' a video collected and shared by members of the “kill team” of U.S. soldiers who murdered civilians in Afghanistan and mutilated the corpses. The jumpy, 30-minute video – shot by soldiers believed to be with another battalion in the 5th Stryker Brigade – shows American troops gunning down two Afghans on a motorcycle who may have been armed. Even if the killings were part of a legitimate combat engagement, however, it is a clear violation of Army standards to share such footage. The video was taken on patrol with a helmet-mounted camera; at one point, the soldier shooting the images can be heard boasting, “I got it all on camera.”
Thank you, Mary. I like your style. The time for arguments is over. Time for action.
Go away. Your not welcome.
To everyone else,
Here in RC-East, Afghanistan we have no problem boycotting these products. However it's going to be an issue boycotting Jim Beam when we return.
SSG Kurk, Joshua
49th EOD
Orgun-E, Afghanistan
Another useful idiot. Behead anyone lately, Jihadi?
Good gravy! You read this list, and you have to come to the conclusion that most of their readership spends their time drinking whiskey, adjusting their makeup, and primping their hair. [sarcasm]...alt hough there's nothing *wrong* with that...[/sarcas m]
You cry like girls because we base our views on Islam off of, what you call, the few that "pervert" Islam, because Islam is peaceful. But then you turn around and judge all Americans and all American Military off of a few idiots who committed a horrible act. Do you see the irony in this?
Honestly, if terrorists weren't using Afghanistan as a base of operations to "perfert Islam" as you say, no one would give two squirts of piss about the crappy country and backwards people. If people want to live like it's 800A.D., then that's their business.
Might I suggest another Kentucky bourbon instead of that TN pond water? Woodford Reserve is very nice.
please show me in any army manual where it calls for what those few soldiers did. what we can say is that there is around 164 times in the koran that calls for killing the infidel. wrap your pea brain around that and stop spewing your vial vitriole(sp).
Thank you for your continued reporting of the real facts. I find it so difficult to understand why these 60s-70s rags like Rolling Stone continue to report against the efforts of our troops on the ground. Let their "journolists" take point looking for the Taliban and watch their pussy butts run in the opposite direction. They talk so big, yet just continue to talk trash with their typical name calling and empty facts.
Be safe out there Michael!
Who are you, Micheal Moore? You also seem to have no understanding of reality.
I served in Afghanistan during 2003 clearing mines from Bagram Airbase and the surrounding area with the 27th Engineer Battalion. One Soldier lost his leg, and a civillian and 2 loyal - courageous working dogs with us lost thier lives. Many times we were invited for tea or coffee by the local Afghans who constantly thanked us for removing the mines that had menaced and maimed them for years and killed thier children. Please do not dishoner our service - it is you who are exercising your first amendment right to show your ignorance.
The MSM puts the meme first and looks for incidents that support it. In this case the My Lai meme, rather than even attempt to report actual new information in a useful way. They deal in truthyness not truth, prefer fear mongering to fact finding. They deserve extinction.
I learned something else. In my day Rolling Stone was for stoners - not whiskey drinking metrosexuals. Land o' Goshen - What's the world coming to?
We have no financial interest there.
That argument might work if we attack Iran, but we have plenty of rubble here (The Bronx) already.
As for our soldiers, the fact that they don't shoot first and sort out the bodies later is all the evidence anyone needs to know they are the most restrained force in the world. They are there for the Afghan people now and our only hope is when we leave they can defend themselves from self-serving fanatics of whom you are apparently one.
Have a wonderful day and enjoy this life, since I am pretty sure you won't be making it to the next one.
My quandry is: I bought my favorite sippin' Bourbon (Jim Beam) a few months ago but haven't opened the bottle yet.
I would encourage all of Micheals readers to pick out a product they use or have consider using and go the the company web site and locate the "contact" page and notify them of your dissatisfaction with their support of the magazine.
And oh, Mr. Afghan Patriot, your more than welcome to go joining the Taliban forces since you feel so strongly about their cause and how evil are the United States.
By the way, want to piss off a muslim? Tell them Jesus Christ created mohammed and allah - which Jesus did as He created everything in the world.
Also, the other video is worse because they made it a freaking music video.
Look, it has little to do with the "Kill Team", but Rolling Stone did at least put that text in there. I'm wondering why Michael doesn't even mention that.
"Yon strikes me as a good guy, unfortunate I've never met him."
"Interesting point about "excessive force" in a combat zone. I say it's only excessive if it disables a US Soldier in the process, anything less is not enough force in my book. It is utterly beyond me why some people insist that we cede what few distinct advantages we have in these combat operations. The enemy already gets to chose the time, the place, and the intensity of the engagement, and it seems like there are far too many doves out there that feel the need to make up all these other little rules and guidelines to try and endanger careers and jeopordize lives all for the sake of feeling better about the killing they'll never have to do."
"Frustrating."
Brother Josh,
I will happily buy you a bottle of Booker's on your return in gratitude for you serving me, my family and our nation when you return. maybe you will leave the Beam behind. Thanks for what you do.
Never forget that the US Military won every battle in Vietnam. The war was "lost" at home by the disinformation campaign waged by agents of the other side and a large body of "useful idiots." They're trying the same trick here. Absent talk radio and ONE news network they might have succeeded already.
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Orbit
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I also found the advertising Director's name: Erik Yates (erik.yates
We need to check the website periodically to see other advertisers.
Child of God
I brought up the same point as you on Yon's Facebook page, and all I got was ... being labeled "arrogant." This is all a hatchet job--everyone's had it out for RS since McChrystal got outed.
Did I just wake up in the sixties?
Why not boycott all of the leftist influenced MGMSM?
Have we not heard day after day from these libtard louts in the MGMSM how the military is nothing but a bunch of psychopaths with guns fulfilling their need to kill?
BOYCOTT ALL THE COMMUNIST/SOCIA LIST INFLUENCED MGMSM PRINT, BROADCAST, AND WEB!!
OH and it's deffinatly my pleasure serving great Americans like yourself.
Pay no mind to Afghan Patriot. He is making comments without having any of the facts. And chances are he wouldn't change his mind even if he had them all.
I like the Stupid Mercenary remark. Hahaha kind of funny. May be our new Platoon Mascot.
Anyways, Cheers!
SSG K
49th EOD
FOB Orgun-E, Afghanistan
You really do need to get a life and maybe some anger management.
In the words of Pappy Van Winkle...always fine bourbon. Thanks Josh for what you do. If I had the money, I'd send you a case of Pappy's.
Peck
Excusing such behavior due to the pressures of war, excuses a LOT of inhuman behavior of armies past (Nazis, Japanese, etc). The reason we call ourselves on it is BECAUSE we are American, and hold ourselves to different standards, whether we like it or not!
Boycotting a magazine because the truth hurts, is anti-American in itself. YES, it hurts America's reputation, YES, it is difficult to believe about ourselves, and YES a free press is vital to our way of life!
So, RS can pretend to be "concerned" and print what they want. And the AMPUB can decide it's all tripe and boycott the advertisers and the mag.
And we can't believe how you and your ilk are in bed with a bunch of communist/socia list/jihadi America haters, i.e. the Demoncratic Party and the Obomination!
You're probably living off America while spouting your poison. You may have confused the soldiers with leadership. Would you have been happier if the motorcycle passenger had been able to fire on our troops? Looks like he was the stupid mercenary. (Rest his soul). Of course you are the wise one, you blowhard!
Haven't tried the Bookers. Will have to pick up a bottle sometime.
Notice where IRAN is located!
Ever heard of the "Pincher Move"?
Ever heard of the Trans-Afghan Pipeline?
We are a country whose National Security and way of life depends heavily on OIL at this moment in time, we must protect that resource at all costs or be ready to start riding a bicycle and living a turd world lifestyle, ya'll!
Dude in earlier post made a good point- why no Islamic beheading in RS? Why only aberrant US behaviors? This immediately tells me that RS is biased.
Also what does Afghanistan have the US could possibly want except dead Taliban and AlQaeda? There is not even a strategic reason to be there. Even Osama would not be there if he didn't have to.
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Included link to Michael Yon's Blog
Maybe someone at Jim Beam will take a look
Jim Beam:
http://www.jimbeam.com/global_pages/contact_us
Old Spice:
http://pg.custhelp.com/app/ask/p/30/
Makers Mark:
http://www.makersmark.com/ContactUs.aspx
Send them something like the following and LET THEM KNOW!!!
I have been using @@@@ for over 20 years!!
I want to thank you all for making such a great product.
Sadly I must tell you that I cannot purchase @@@@ anymore.
See it seems that you support with your advertising dollars the "Rolling Stone" magazine.
Until you cease advertising in that magazine I will not be buying any more @@@@.
Drop me a note when you decide to stop supporting Rolling Stone and I'll be glad to begin using your great product again.
Again thanks for making such great a great product and I'm sorry I must find another choice.
Financial interests? Are you insane as well as ignorant?! What exactly do you think that Afghanistan has that any American in his or her right mind could want?! Dirt?
HOOAH!
If you buy the products of a business entity that is doing evil in the world, like for instance the Obomination's buddies @ GE, then you are NOT supporting corporate greed and exploitation?
If you buy OIL from the Middle East then you're NOT supporting Islamic terrorism and the brutalization of women and non-believers(infidels)?
My my, what a delusional world we live in these days!
Nobody is denying there were some seriously messed up douchebags that murdered some people and tarnished our good name. What is pissing everybody here off is the fact that Rolling Stone has taken what a small group of people did and used it to label an entire brigade - which contains thousands of soldiers - as murderers. THAT is the problem people here have. We just want the Rolling Stone to report it as it is, not tarnish the reputations of good people who have nothing to do with sick people who commit terrible atrocities. That in itself is a tragedy.
I guess I'll have to see if Klipsch or Polk audio advertise with the RS or not. And now I've got to find another SUV I like made by a Japanese company like Toyota or Honda.
Having been an Air Force veteran, a military contractor and an Army civilian, I resent the slander the Rolling Turd has throughout it's pitiful existence heaped on our nation and it's military.
They have devolved over the years from an informative and entertaining music industry rag into a Fellow Traveler of Moron TeeVee and The Commode Channel, delving into areas that have nothing to do with their original mission.
In the process they have revealed themselves to be sympathizers of every left wing nutbag cause across the planet and now they are defending Islamic terrorists and America haters.
BTW They are also 2nd Amendment haters. They airbrushed out an Uzi that was on Warren Zevon's album cover back in the day;-)
For an SUV may I again recommend a Jeep. I have a 1991 Grand Cherokee and it still kicks booty! They say NEW ones are even more awesome
Why send more money to Japan
PS I gave them up too, prefer a pipe
Buy a competitor - hey Irish and Scottish whisky are nice!.
Send the dated receipt with a short letter to the CEO/Head Office of your ex-brand.
Best Buy is advertising on Rolling Stone's website, so buy your big ticket technology item at a competitor and send the receipt to Mr. Best Buy.
Guaranteed to be noticed.
One letter equals 50 grumpy people - general rule of thumb in marketing departments.
Cheers!
Me? Reading my newly subscribed-to Wall Street Journal about another magazine in trouble. She? On the phone to Wenner.
"What did you say, Jann? Oh no, not four o'clock mister. I'm calling the loan RIGHT NOW."
:roll:: Oh well, there are others that would love my business and love the freedom that American Soldiers provide.
I love M&M's & Nestle - but it's for the cause and I will probably loose some weight. I will only do this for you - American Soldiers. I thought in America you are innocent until proven guilty - Rolling Stone - how can you hold a whole brigade accountable for what a few do? I sure would not want to work for you! Is this how you treat your employees?
In all fairness, GEN McChrystal took himself down. RS may be a biased rag, but McChrystal was a serving officer in the United States Army who openly criticized his Commander in Chief in a national publication. Agree with him or not, but he definitely put his foot in his mouth and did a fire-for-effect on his career.
You cry like girls because we base our views on Islam off of, what you call, the few that "pervert" Islam, because Islam is peaceful. But then you turn around and judge all Americans and all American Military off of a few idiots who committed a horrible act. Do you see the irony in this?
Afghan, when you used the phrase "you cry like girls", you displayed your true colors. You are a Muslim.
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We have begun a new front in this battle, by email, to bludgeon the enemy, the Rolling Stone Rag, into recanting their lies. Let's seriously hurt 'em in their bottom line!!! Thanks for the heads up. God Bless and Protect You My Friend.
Fist, it makes the person who's removed the comment seem both petty and biased.
Second, it removes from the late reader, like myself, the ability to come to my own conclusions regarding a comment made and all subsequent comments. For instance, Josh's comment appears to me to be unsubstantiated and rude from a completely unbiased perspective. The phrasing just seems wrong.
Now, I want to say that I would in all likelyhood agree with the opinions stated here and might even have posted my own. However, due to the fact that the comment has been removed, I cannot come to my own conclusions.
I would also like to say that I have personally done two reports on Michael Yon, first a book report in high school on A Moment Of Truth in Iraq and second in a History of Photography college course. I respect him immensely for his bravery and reporting.
Even if you think the footage has nothing to do with the callous murder of innocents, you actually want to destroy the magazine for it and seem wanting to embark on your own little crusade to do so? That you've ditched all pretense at being an impartial journalist but have taken sides and write propaganda for yours that is clear, but this is new. What are you doing here, Michael?
I've never been a journalist. I've never been impartial; I know the difference between right and wrong.
Thank you, Timothy! Please pour it on!
Quoting Jim:
Jim -- key with this boycott is longterm persistence. Rolling Stone is showing a clear pattern of deceptive attacks on the US military. The more they continue to do so, the more people are likely to join in the boycott.
Thanks for contacting Old Spice, Jim.
We rely heavily on consumer comments regarding our advertisements, and feedback like yours will help us decide how to approach future advertising efforts. Please be assured I'm letting our marketing team know how you feel.
Thanks again for writing.
Brittany
Old Spice Team
Thank you, Jim. The more Rolling Stone continues to attack the US military, the more this boycott will grow. Death by a thousand butterfly bites!
I seem to remember when he was in Thailand giving us the truth on that turmoil that he decried the "toxic guano of consensus journalism"
Here's the link if you care to educate yourself about the truth and the FACTS
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/even-while-the-world-watched-part-i.htm
To even make such a claim shows the height of ignorance and a touch of being stupid.
Show me any news report within the last century that was not somehow biased!
The asinine belief that the MGMSM is not biased, clearly shows one is not in touch with reality and is tone deaf to the truth of persistent MGMSM bias.
For all such gullible fools I have a good deal on Blue Chip stocks in "Invisible Glass" that I would like to sell them real cheap
Please contact me @ The Plantation Nation.com if you know anyone who is interested
What's going on Michael?
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Maybe you choose to ignore the facts in the article and lash out like a spoiled child who doesn't want to hear anything other than their own childish beliefs and prattle on like all present day liberal louts.
Either way you come off as a brainwashed leftist dolt with an attack dog mentality.
Go find another sand box in which to spew your ignorant tripe!
Funny. To me that seems exactly what this 'boycot' is.
The reason I want to buy Japanese is because they make good quality cars - many of which are actually assembled in the US - and I've never met anybody who had good experiences with American SUVs. Plus, Jeep is owned by Chrysler which took a bailout, and that makes them basically government owned. I won't buy anything from a government owned company if I can possibly avoid it, and that's an easy one to avoid.
Besides, I have a deep and abiding love for the Japanese people and even if the president isn't going to show more support, I can at least send them some cash, no matter how little it may be.
I don't buy into the whole "buy American" bit. Never have.
Google "Pipelines to 9/11", by Rudo de Ruijter; read "The New Pearl Harbor", by Dr. David Griffin; see the www.WhatReallyHappened.com / www.bushstole04.com / www.GlobalResearch.ca sites, and you may WAKE UP. I hope so, for your sake - but even more for the sake of the US military personnel who you have helped/help keep in danger.
Are you aware that Pres. Obama is ex-CIA? His parents also worked for them. Check out Wayne Madsen's article about "Business International Corp." Then maybe you'll understand why he was made Prez.
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