Better Pizza, Better Boycott: Papa John’s Drops Rush Limbaugh

Last updated on April 1st, 2012 at 10:36 pm

Despite the fact that Rush Limbaugh and his P.R. offensive have declared the boycott over, Papa John’s has dropped Rush Limbaugh.

In response to the BoycottRush campaign, Papa John’s has announced that they are going to discontinue their advertising on Rush Limbaugh’s program.

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Interestingly enough, this news came shortly after Limbaugh went on a P.R. offensive in order to declare the boycott finished. Rush even went as far as to compare the boycott against him to the shooting of Trayvon Martin. The problem for Rush is that while he was proclaiming victory, he lost three more advertisers. Kohler, and Legal Zoom have also bailed on Limbaugh’s show in the last few days.

Limbaugh’s standard defense has been to claim that his ratings are up since the boycott, but what he keeps forgetting is that Glenn Beck’s ratings went up while he was being boycotted to. This boycott isn’t about ratings. It’s about advertisers. Sure some advertisers may trickle back in, but pardon me if I express some skepticism at the timing of the Washington Post proclamation that the boycott is over.

Rush Limbaugh hired a P.R. firm/crisis management team and low and behold, a couple of weeks later The Washington Post is proclaiming the boycott dead. As much as Rush Limbaugh hopes beyond hope that it will, this boycott isn’t going to just up and go away one day. That isn’t how these things work. The boycotters will keep going. They will keep pressuring any advertiser who comes back to Rush Limbaugh’s program. Day after day after day, they will be there. Rush Limbaugh will never escape their watchful eye.

Unlike conservatives, progressives and liberals don’t cut and run when things get tough. They didn’t quit when Glenn Beck and Fox News pushed back on them, and they aren’t going to quit now. The truth is that Rush Limbaugh isn’t personally feeling the pain of this boycott. He has a contract, and he is still getting paid. What terrifies Rush Limbaugh in the darkness of night, what wakes him up in a cold sweat is the knowledge that the boycotters have found his weak spot.

This boycott is attacking the support beam that holds his empire together. Rush Limbaugh’s entire success is based on one thing, advertiser dollars. If those advertiser dollars dry up, the market for Rush Limbaugh goes bye-bye. Ratings don’t matter. It is all about the advertising.

Limbaugh can keep talking about his ratings, but as long as advertisers continue to leave, the boycott is successful, and Rush Limbaugh’s broadcast empire remains in jeopardy.

Image: Slice Harvester

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association