Campaigners urge advertisers not to fund “Fox News style” channels in Britain

Companies urged not to advertise

Following months of media articles trailing these channels, #StopFundingHate supporters began taking action in February, urging advertisers not to fund “Fox News style” media in Britain.

The #DontFundGBNews message quickly went viral, with over 12,000 tweets using the hashtag on the day that our campaign action launched.

We know that these tactics can be effective. #StopFundingHate supporters have already seen significant results challenging the Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Express by using our collective voice as consumers to engage with advertisers.

Most major advertisers want to appeal to as wide a range of consumers as possible. Thus for many big brands, being aligned with inflammatory content that may alienate a whole section of their customer base is simply not in their commercial interests.

However, we also know that in many cases brands will prefer to back away quietly rather than making a public statement that could fuel further controversy.

In 2019 Stop Funding Hate learned that at least 265 brands had dropped the Daily Mail prior to their decision to begin efforts to “detoxify” – a far higher number than had spoken out publicly.

By engaging with advertisers in the run-up to the launch of GB News, Stop Funding Hate supporters have been working to reach as many brands as we can before final decisions have been made and advertising contracts agreed. We also hope to make companies aware of the scale of popular opposition to “Fox News style” media – and the risk to their brand of aligning with any outlet that goes down that road.

The feedback we’ve seen so far suggests that the message has been getting through, with the controversy prompting significant debate within the UK advertising industry press.

 

GB News front-man Andrew Neil has also now publicly responded to our campaign, and insisted that – despite the recent headlines heralding a “British Fox News”  – the new channel will not, in fact, be seeking to replicate this toxic model.

Meanwhile, Byline Times has reported that former Downing Street staffer Robbie Gibb is no longer involved in the project.

While these commitments may bring some reassurance, the aggressive positioning of GB News as an anti “woke” TV channel is likely to raise ongoing concerns. At a time when brands have more choice than ever about where they do and don’t advertise, many will doubtless be asking themselves whether GB News is a controversy that they need to be dragged into.

Find out more and support the campaign on the Stop Funding Hate website.