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

Several Bloody Footprints Found At Crime Scene In Calgary Triple Murder

Calgary police found several bloody footprints when they began an investigation into the disappearance of a couple and their missing grandson in 2014.

Several Bloody Footprints Found At Crime Scene In Calgary Triple Murder

Legal Battle Launched In Vancouver Over Opposition To Moby Dick Restaurant

Legal Battle Launched In Vancouver Over Opposition To Moby Dick Restaurant
VANCOUVER — A condo council on Vancouver's waterfront is named in a civil lawsuit over allegations it refused to lease space to a fish and chip restaurant called Moby Dick partly because of an offensive word in its name.

Legal Battle Launched In Vancouver Over Opposition To Moby Dick Restaurant

BC Hydro Looking Underground As It Considers Future Electricity Demand In Downtown Vancouver

BC Hydro Looking Underground As It Considers Future Electricity Demand In Downtown Vancouver
BC Hydro says it is looking underground as it considers future electricity demand in downtown Vancouver.

BC Hydro Looking Underground As It Considers Future Electricity Demand In Downtown Vancouver

Manitoba Premier Says Indigenous Night Hunting Is Starting A 'Race War'

Manitoba Premier Says Indigenous Night Hunting Is Starting A 'Race War'
Manitoba's premier says indigenous people shouldn't be night hunting and the practice is creating what he calls a "race war."

Manitoba Premier Says Indigenous Night Hunting Is Starting A 'Race War'

Tim Hortons, Burger King Plan To Launch App In Latest Push Towards Automation

Tim Hortons, Burger King Plan To Launch App In Latest Push Towards Automation
TORONTO — The parent company of Tim Hortons and Burger King plans to launch an app Canada-wide this spring that would allow customers to order and pay in advance on their smartphone without lining up to pay a cashier.

Tim Hortons, Burger King Plan To Launch App In Latest Push Towards Automation

VIDEO: Seventh Lane Coming For Alex Fraser Bridge To Reduce Traffic Congestion

VIDEO: Seventh Lane Coming For Alex Fraser Bridge To Reduce Traffic Congestion
To reduce traffic congestion on the Alex Fraser Bridge, the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will be incorporating a moveable barrier system along the bridge, similar to the operations on the Golden Gate Bridge. 

VIDEO: Seventh Lane Coming For Alex Fraser Bridge To Reduce Traffic Congestion