Watch Live: Second House Hearing on IRS Scandal

Check Out Today’s Hot Posts on TheBlaze Blog!

Business

Company That Dumped Limbaugh Over ‘Flukegate’ Admits: Yeah, That Hurt us More Than we Expected it Would

Aug. 3, 2012 8:01pm Becket Adams

Remember when the mainstream media and leftists everywhere flew into a rage because Rush Limbaugh associated 30-year-old Georgetown student Sandra Fluke with a rude word?

Do you also remember when the CEO of long-time Limbaugh sponsor Carbonite announced that his company could no longer associate itself with the EIB Network? Sure you do:

No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency.

Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show. We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.

Well, despite losing a few sponsors and having Media Matters lead a campaign to have him removed from the airwaves, Limbaugh is still here and he’s still annoying the left.

Oh, yeah, and it appears Carbonite’s decision to drop the EIB Network hasn’t worked out so well for them.

“On August 1 Carbonite released its 2d Quarter 2012 results, the first full quarter after dropping Limbaugh in March. The results shocked Wall Street, as Carbonite did not meet its growth targets, causing multiple analysts to drop the target price,” William A. Jacobson writes for Legal Insurrection.

“The stock dropped 15 [percent] in a day,” he adds.

But the most interesting part about all of this is the fact that Carbonite CEO David Friend may have admitted on Wednesday that dropping Limbaugh hurt the company.

Here’s a transcript of Friend’s admission [via Legal Insurrection, emphasis added]:

Friend: “There were four factor that contributed to this slower growth. First, in March we stopped working with one of our top producing radio endorsers. While we recently contracted with three new radio personalities, it takes 3-6 months to ramp up new radio hosts so we probably won’t see the full effect of this for another quarter or two.”

Q: “I guess I’m a little surprised that you were caught by surprise by the radio host change ’cause I know we’ve talked and I guess my impression was that it wouldn’t be that impactful but I guess it was quite impactful.

Friend: “Yeah, I’d say it turned out to be a bigger issue than we had anticipated. Because you know at the time there was a lot of noise, I mean we had a huge spike in web traffic around that time just because of all the interest in the whole subject. And it took close to a month for that to sort of die down. And meanwhile our metrics were, we really couldn’t see what was going because there was so much noise around the website that we had no idea what the ultimate impact was going to be. It turned out to be a bigger hole in our revenue than we had thought when we initially did this. However, I don’t think there was any, I’m not regretful of the decision, I think things would have been worse had we not done that.

“The last statement by Friend, that the damage would have been worse had Carbonite not dropped Limbaugh is laughable. Friend has been caught doing serious damage to shareholders based on a political decision which was taken precipitously on a Saturday night,” Jacobson writes.

“It’s too convenient now to say things would have been worse, when Friend completely misjudged the impact of dropping Limbaugh,” he adds.

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Click here to read Jacobson’s full report, this story has been updated.

(H/T: Washington Examiner)

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (352)

yubba
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:21pm
Carbonite who?????????

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Bluenose177
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:19pm
This is the jackass CEO who drops Rush Limbaugh (the biggest syndicated radio talk show in America) for his views on this Fluck idiot, yet his company still sponsor the sexist, mysogynist Red Ed Schultz who called Laura Ingraham a “right wing slut”

ooooh those double standards can be dangerous things Mr Friend

Rush Hudson Limbaugh MMM MMM MMM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3mWes14bWw

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Mukichan
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:15pm
Rarely does LOL hold a true meaning.. Well I genuinely Laughed out Loud.. I hope media matters or some other Lib organization hires this fool as its CEO.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
topperj
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:14pm
There are plenty of sites like Carbonite that computer users can use. And they are. Cut off your nose to spite your face.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Nemo13
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:09pm
Carbonite = WASTE OF MONEY. Who would want online backup when you have flash drives capable of storing up to 64 gigs each? Or full drives up to a 1000 gigs? Not to mention you OWN your drives and no issues with security or late payment hostage. If you computer crashes, you stuff is still safe on the old drive, you just hook it up to your new system and pull it off. All online crap like craponite / etc are not needed.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- kpeters59
  Posted on August 3, 2012 at 11:14pm
  You really do need/want off-site storage. Really.
  
  Try Mozy or Dropbox. Maybe use an online photo site. Photobucket or Picassa maybe. I’ve seen clients start crying when they thought they lost their pictures.
  
  Report this comment
bjornskis
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:08pm
they should give a few millions to support gay marrage and see where that gets them

I was one of their customers and now I am with some other company

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
BurntHills
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:01pm
we dropped them, as well as, we bet they freaked when they found out after dropping Rush that Fluke the Puke was really a 32yr old hardcore activist —and not some mindless promiscuous little girl like the abortion-bloodsoaked commies portrayed her as.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Magyar
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:00pm
The intolerant corrupt LEFT continue to push the conservative block. Support for Dan Cathy’s Chick-fil-A is the beginnning of the conservative tsunami coming at them.

We’re all tired of their BS and lies.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Patriot of My America
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:56pm
Liberals one and all will suffer along with those of us that are actually patriots and actually love this great nation. Obama and his state ( minded ) liberal progressive socialist media that are leading the sheeple down the road to surfdom. May progressive minded people actually have a evolving wake up and under stand that progressive socialist dogma is actually a terminal mental illness. the cure is as follows. And I quote General Douglas MacArthur. Duty, Honor , Country.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Sparky77
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:54pm
I’m shocked they didn’t lose more of their existing customer base.

Dropbox
https://www.dropbox.com

Is a much, much better solution anyway.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
The Dextah
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:54pm
Too bad Carbonite. Suffer many more poor quarters. I told my customers I could no longer recommend Carbonite. How easy do you want to make it for the snoopy government to pry into your files, than just giving them a “one-stop-shop” to peruse your private information.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
catholicextremist
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:53pm
Liberals are so committed to their idealogy that they are blind to reality. Simple math would tell you that cutting advertising on the world’s most popular radio show would have negative consequences in a competative market. I was reminded of this disconnect when I was at Chik fil a the other day when I waited four hours to eat a meal with thousands of other people who haven’t accepted the homosexual propoganda that I have been bombarded wth the last fiteen or so years. A hastily organized mass show of support reminded me that we are in the majority, especially with the pathetic two or three people they managed to scrounge up for the kiss in.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Sparky77
  Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:56pm
  Not just pulling the advertising but taking on Limbaugh. You know many people used this product due to an association with Limbaugh so they’ll find a different solution once they know that Carbonite is out to get Limbaugh.
  
  Report this comment
- Sparky77
  Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:04pm
  Interestingly also it has been revealed that the CEO of Carbonite is an Obama donor.
  
  As prominent an advertiser as they were on Rush’s show for so many years it makes you wonder if taking conservative money & turning it into Obama donations was part of their business plan.
  
  Report this comment
Dinkiecb
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:49pm
I was one of their customers… as was Rush advertised for them, key word…WAS…I’m tired of PC CRAP and “that woman” … she still a “b” words

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Skrewedretiree
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:49pm
Neither Glenn or Rush go around dumping sponsors, as it is their revenue source. It would be foolish for them to do so. However, with that said, once a sponsor dumps either one of them and trashes them in the media, neither one should take their ads back. As I understand it, one of their sponsors that dumped them begged to come back and Rush told them no. Good for him!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
jrcowboy49
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:47pm
Having so much sex that she can’t afford her $1,000/year birth control costs. For a single lady approaching 30 having all this sex without any responsibility, what would you call her promiscuous behavior? My description of her is more blunt than what you have accused Rush Limbaugh of!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
florida123
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:45pm
Carbonite is a rotten service anyway, they use bait and switch in their advertising……….Bad company and unless they get their head out of their azz they will not be around for long…………..

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
g.prunty
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:43pm
think things would have been worse had we not done that………………….lol really trying to cover his backside there huh?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
ragnarb
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:41pm
Friend is no friend. All Rush listeners can attest to the fact that his laudatory and constant endorsement of carbonite was probably the single most important reason for it’s growth. Those that stuck by Rush received even more business I’m sure. Friends explanation sounds like obama trying to spin the latest employment numbers as positive.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
chips1
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:40pm
Some people just have to learn the hard way that Americans are still here and in charge of this country. The people that side with the liberals, soon learn that America is still the greatest ,and pandering to the oddball groups with the big mouths is not the way to go. Their leader, Obama, was never raised as an American because Kenya never heard of our Constitution. Next time they should vote for an American.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
dannyo
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:39pm
there is a reason elrushbo has 20 plus million listeners a week, and the one thing they all have in common is that they are loyal to him and his sponsors, AND they hate the Flukes of the world..

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Hounddog777
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:38pm
Dear Sir,

How does your company feel about attacking Mr. Limbaugh? You gave into liberal bully tactics and allowed these liberals to dictate how you run your company.

I guess it is OK for your company when liberals call conservatives disgusting names and call their children the most vulgar names in the book.

We are launching a grass roots campaign against your company, drawing on every available American Patriot to boycott your company. We figure if liberals are allowed to boycott, so can conservatives. Many American Patriots are business owners that will tell you to make your money off your liberal friends, who seem to think small business owners can thank everyone but themselves for building up their own company.

Yes, Americans are fighting back against the hypocrisy.

God Bless
An American Patriot

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Sparky77
  Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:06pm
  Just urge your patriot friends to use Dropbox:
  
  https://www.dropbox.com/
  
  It’s much better anyway.
  
  Report this comment
PeachyinGA
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:38pm
Hold on! Let me show you my shocked face! :-) Dang it, let me try again ;-)) … Oh well I’ll practice some more.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
AllLost
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:34pm
I am glad Beck’s empire is taking their ad money, and I hope they charged double.

If Limbaugh had called Mother Theresa a slut that would have been horrific, but he called a woman sleeping around outside of marriage who wanted us to pay for her birth/abortion control a slut and in fact that is the definition of a slut,

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- BaltimoreJoe
  Posted on August 3, 2012 at 9:29pm
  The real issue is it’s a Jesuit school for crying out loud….they infact DO pay for prescription birth control for a medical reason (like weird or excessive period patterns), and Sandra had in writing noted she selected this school specifically to bring this action.
  
  Report this comment
ronrayguns
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:34pm
oops! Free- market is wonderful—-but if you screw up, brutal! Life is tough enuff, tougher if you’re stupid….The Duke

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
DIVINEPROVIDENCE1776
Posted on August 3, 2012 at 8:31pm
The pathology of ideological peer pressure and group stigma/approval. It is how the Left and PC works. It has enormous power. Look at how it drives a business to ignore its very reason for being. David Friend is a coward and fool.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.