Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
National

2 Canadian Universities Pull Ads From Alt-Right News Outlet Breitbart In United States

The Canadian Press, 27 Jan, 2017 12:49 PM
  • 2 Canadian Universities Pull Ads From Alt-Right News Outlet Breitbart In United States
VANCOUVER — Two Canadian universities are among the organizations that have removed advertisements from an ultra-conservative news website formerly headed by a top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump.
 
The move is part of a campaign spearheaded by Sleeping Giants, an American activist group, aimed at diverting advertising dollars from Breitbart News, a far-right media outlet that came under fire during the 2016 presidential race.
 
"Following the U.S. election, folks around the world are looking for ways to show our support and register our outrage at the rise of the extreme far right," said Emma Pullman of SumOfUs, which is collaborating with Sleeping Giants to target Canadian organizations. 
 
The University of British Columbia and the University of Montreal pulled ads in recent weeks after they became aware that their promotional material was appearing on the site.
 
"It wasn't the University of Montreal that chose to buy advertising on the site," spokeswoman Genevieve Omeara said in French.
 
"It's programmed publicity that is placed automatically on certain websites. We took precautions to ensure it would no longer happen."
 
Susan Danard of the University of British Columbia said the school's marketing policy normally excludes extreme political sites, but that its advertising agency had inadvertently included Breitbart to promote its new swimming pool.
 
"It just got accidentally on their list and when we got aware of that we asked them to pull it, which they did," Danard said.
 
 
"I think the cost was under a dollar. It would have been pennies because it was just a localized digital ad."
 
Steve Bannon, a former Breitbart News executive who is a senior adviser to Trump, has promoted the site as a champion for the so-called alt-right, a U.S.-based offshoot of conservatism that combines elements of racism, white nationalism and populism.
 
Breitbart couldn't be reached for comment.
 
It encouraged a boycott of Kellogg's products last month after the cereal maker said it would no longer advertise on the site, citing its "values" in explaining the decision. Breitbart said the decision by Kellogg's was tantamount to "economic censorship of mainstream conservative political discourse" and "as un-American as it gets."
 
SumOfUs describes itself on its website as "a community of people from around the world committed to curbing the growing power of corporations." It says it consists of more than 12 million people "stopping big corporations from behaving badly."
 
Pullman, the organization's lead campaign strategist who is based in Vancouver, said the group's strategy is multi-faceted.
 
"It's symbolic, but it's also really real and tangible. Breitbart relies on advertising dollars to fund the website," she added.
 
"If you can interrupt its flow of advertising dollars you can actually interrupt its ability to globally expand, which the company has said it would like to do."
 
Sleeping Giant says so far 750 advertisers around the world, including some in Canada, have blocked Breitbart from their media plan.

MORE National ARTICLES

PIC: Family Of Irked Boy At New Brunswick Town Hall To Name Baby After Trudeau

PIC: Family Of Irked Boy At New Brunswick Town Hall To Name Baby After Trudeau
Abdel Kader Al Shaikh was photographed covering his hands over his eyes with his head tilted towards the ceiling as he sat in the front row of Trudeau's town hall in Fredericton last week.

PIC: Family Of Irked Boy At New Brunswick Town Hall To Name Baby After Trudeau

Cape Breton Park Raising Money For Cage For Bear Cub Found Wandering The Highway

Cape Breton Park Raising Money For Cage For Bear Cub Found Wandering The Highway
WHYCOCOMAGH, N.S. — An orphaned black bear cub found wandering alone and pneumonia-stricken on a Cape Breton highway has been nursed back to health.

Cape Breton Park Raising Money For Cage For Bear Cub Found Wandering The Highway

Verdict Expected For Calgary Mother Who Treated Sick Son Holistically

Verdict Expected For Calgary Mother Who Treated Sick Son Holistically
CALGARY — A woman who treated her son with holistic remedies including dandelion tea and oil of oregano before he died of a strep infection is expected to learn her fate today.

Verdict Expected For Calgary Mother Who Treated Sick Son Holistically

Mounties Seize Marijuana, Cash In Chilliwack, B.C., Dial-A-Dope Bust

Mounties Seize Marijuana, Cash In Chilliwack, B.C., Dial-A-Dope Bust
 Police say an alleged dial-a-dope ring has been shut down in Chilliwack, B.C., and five people have been arrested.

Mounties Seize Marijuana, Cash In Chilliwack, B.C., Dial-A-Dope Bust

Allegedly Drugged Driver Hits Cop Car, Overdoses: Vancouver Police

Allegedly Drugged Driver Hits Cop Car, Overdoses: Vancouver Police
Vancouver Police are investigating the circumstances leading to a morning collision on Main Street, after an occupied police vehicle was hit by a suspected impaired driver.

Allegedly Drugged Driver Hits Cop Car, Overdoses: Vancouver Police

B.C. Premier Christy Clark No Longer Receiving Stipend From Party

VANCOUVER — British Columbia's premier says she is no longer receiving an annual stipend from her political party because the payment has become a distraction.

B.C. Premier Christy Clark No Longer Receiving Stipend From Party