The Interim continues with the latest installment of an occasional series, that began in the October 2002 edition, on corporations and other organizations that support anti-life, anti-family and anti-decency agendas. This information is presented to readers so they can use it with respect to their purchasing decisions. Readers may wish to forego purchasing the products or patronizing the services of those businesses that support objectionable causes, and thus not contribute to perpetuating and strengthening those causes.
The efficacy of making one’s voice – and pocketbook – heard is demonstrated by an Oct. 29, 2001 article in the Toronto Business Journal, which noted that marketers and sponsors were cool towards the theatre event Puppetry of the Penis, which – we kid you not – featured two men manipulating their genitalia into various shapes such as the Eiffel Tower and a hamburger. Toronto radio stations such as Mix 99.9 and CHUM-FM refused to give away tickets for the show, and finding a venue for the event’s opening press conference proved to be difficult. Meanwhile, the managements of the CN Tower and Panorama restaurant wouldn’t risk their stature with the negative connotations associated with such a promotion.
In another realm, automaker Chevrolet courted the large and influential U.S Christian community with its sponsorship of a worship tour by leading Christian musician Michael W. Smith late last year.
Steve Betz, who oversaw the campaign for Chevrolet, said the tour sent out a positive message and would give its dealers a boost. “It’s important that we get the message out there with regards to Chevrolet and how we’re so family-oriented and have great values.” The Christian Music Trade Association said the tour had the potential to start “a new wave in entertainment marketing.”
Throughout North America, people are taking action and making their voices heard. An Ohio-based family values group, for example, has launched a campaign to help people stay away from hotels that offer in-room pornography. The campaign by Citizens for Community Values, found on the internet at CleanHotels.com, lists local hotels that carry pornography, and those that do not. Citizens for Community Values was successful this summer in getting a major hotel in Cincinnati to cease offering pay-per-view porn movies.
It is clear, then, that making one’s views known has an impact. Read the following with that thought in mind.
In August, communications company Motorola was fingered for promoting homosexuality in its corporate culture through “homophobia” workshops, homosexual sex-ed courses and recruitment for gay pride parades.
Homosexual promotion at Motorola dates back to at least 1993, when the company launched the Gay, Bisexual and Lesbian network GABLE-NET to encourage discussion of issues related to people of that bent in the workplace. One employee observed that homosexual activists are by far the most feared by Motorola management. “They have free rein of internal media, corporate resources and event scheduling,” he said.
In October, it was found that CTV Inc. had forged ties with the second annual Everything to Do With Sex trade show in Toronto. In March 2001, Free Land Marketing Inc., producer of the show, named CTV as its media sponsor. In fact, it was said that CTV “jumped at the chance” to take the role. In that capacity, CTV was to become involved in a “wide range” of promotional activities for the show – including the lion’s share of television advertising.
“We are delighted to have been asked to play a major role in the marketing of this unique and exciting show, and are committed to its success,” remarked CTV’s Linda Kay.
CTV is also a sponsor of the notorious, annual Women’s Health Forum in Toronto, which last year brought in virulent abortion proponent Nafis Sadik to talk about universal abortion “rights,” and which regularly features pornographic “sex ed” sessions for adolescent girls. Worse yet, CTV is to air a whitewashing biography on Henry Morgentaler this fall, misentitled Choice.
Other corporate sponsors of the Everything to Do With Sex show included GNC (General Nutrition Centres Inc.) and radio stations 102.1 The Edge, Q107 and Mojo Radio. Exhibitors included Harley-Davidson of Toronto, Pfizer Canada, Pizza Pizza, Rogers Digital Cable, the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun, and Viewers Choice.
Rogers spokesperson Taanta Gupta boasted that Rogers offers “adult programming” and has launched the specialty channels Sex TV and PrideVision (the latter of which was such a failure, it was recently put up for sale).
Also in October, the Eastman Kodak Co. of Rochester, N.Y. fired a 23-year employee after he objected to a pro-homosexual memo and so failed to adhere to the company’s “Winning and Inclusive Culture” policy. Rolf Szabo said he found the memo “disgusting and offensive,” and did not want to be sent that type of information.
Kodak management hauled him on the carpet and told him he had to sign an “employee commitment plan,” which included an apology and a commitment that such behaviour would not happen again. The alternative, he was told, was termination of employment.
In December, Disney prompted disappointment among Christians when its Florida amusement park eliminated a 28-year tradition of offering on-site religious services to Christian guests. A spokesman for the Traditional Values Coalition said he believes Disney’s decision was an attempt to appease its diverse clientele, which includes homosexuals. He added that the corporation has made a high-profile attempt to accommodate homosexual communities by playing host to “Gay Day,” an annual event billed as “America’s Biggest Gay and Lesbian Vacation Experience.”
A Corporate Equality Index rating corporations on their policies affecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered employees, investors and consumers lauded Kodak, as well as Aetna, American Airlines, Apple Computers, Intel, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Lucent Technologies, Nike and Xerox. Meanwhile, the Gay Financial Network put Walt Disney Co., Microsoft, IBM and Hewlett-Packard within its top 10.
In November, it was reported that popular fast food chain McDonald’s has been providing millions of dollars in funding to UNICEF, the UN children’s agency that has been tied to various population-control schemes. The two had earlier announced a Happy Deal partnership, in which 20 million fundraising boxes were distributed to the company’s U.S. outlets.
In December, MasterCard was blasted by Life Decisions International president Doug Scott because of its continued funding of pro-abortion UNICEF. MasterCard also rejected complaints from LDI on the issue.
The American Family Association has criticized the Home Depot home improvement chain for advertising on some of television’s nastiest shows, which contain explicit and graphic violence, sex and profanity. The AFA said when it contacted Home Depot to complain, it was basically told the company is just selling its product, and that it wasn’t a question of morality, or right or wrong.
November also saw the Merck pharmaceutical giant come under a boycott of all its products from Children of God for Life, which specializes in distributing information on vaccines tainted with aborted-fetal tissue. “An effective means of forcing a change in fetal-tissue vaccines would be to boycott the products that most heavily impact the company’s financials,” the group said. A list of Merck’s products, and substituting products from competitors, is available at the website:
http://www.cogforlife.org/merckproducts.htm.
Large-scale abortion promoter McArthur Foundation was found to be continuing its malfeasance in November, when a list of recipients of its grants showed the inclusion of such notorious groups as Catholics for a Free Choice, the International Planned Parenthood Federation and other enemies of life, faith and the family. Other recipients of grants included the United Nations Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice, the World Federalist Movement, the Coalition for an International Criminal Court, the Population Council, Population Action International and the UNFPA.
According to an ad in the Toronto gay magazine Xtra!, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Children’s Aid Foundation, the O’Connor Gallery and the Ontario Arts Council were found to be sponsoring activities of Supporting Our Youth, a community development project designed to improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgendered youth in Toronto through the active involvement of youth and adult communities. Among the activities sponsored by SOY was the development of a “Trans_Fusion Crew,” dedicated to “creating social and political spaces that speak to the concerns, struggles and victories of transgendered, transsexual, two-spirited, intersexed youth and allies.”
In December, Ford Motor Company’s Jaguar brand announced plans to launch an advertising campaign aimed at gay drivers. “They spend more money on luxury cars and they have more money to spend,” observed Jaguar spokesman Simon Sproule. “They are very loyal to brands and organizations that talk to them in a way that is relevant.”
Vehicle maker Dodge (owned by Daimler-Chrysler) came under fire in December for sponsoring the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, described by some observers as “an hour of sexual shenanigans” during family hour on CBS. The program prompted the writing of at least 6,000 letters of complaint to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Carlton Cards drew the disdain of the Christian community this past Christmas season when it was found that the company had produced a card that used the word “Christmas” as an acronym for phrases revolving around sex:
Care to have sex?
Hey, let’s have sex!
Really could use some sex!
Etc.
