Moar Rantseseses

[wook77]

As a follow-up to this set of letters -

Dear Law Enforcement, Radio Decency People, Radio personalities and, specifically, the management at KRXQ,

Just so I understand how this works, a white supremecist shock jock says violent things directed at politicians and he gets criminal charges but Rob and Arnie say violent things directed at transgendered/gender-questioning children, and it's just lulz? They're shock jocks and equal opportunity offenders?

Huh. I still don't get it.

In conclusion, FUCK YOU.
me

Dear Snapple, Sonic and Chipotle (now with added Nissan, AT&T, Verizona, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and McDonalds,

Thanks for being awesome. I had Chipotle at lunch today, bought some Diet Dr. Pepper at Circle K on the way back and am planning on Sonic for lunch tomorrow. I appreciate your willingness to pull your advertising from a popular radio program in light of such hate speech. It takes a lot to make such a stand in this tough market so I appreciate your willingness to do so.

<3,
me


UPDATED WITH NEW ADVERTISERS!

CARLS'S JR. (CKE RESTAURANTS): (Hardee's on the East Coast)
Removed due to response. See ETA 2!

HOME DEPOT
public_relations@homedepot.com

TOBACCO REPUBLIC:
trcigar@aol.com

FLEX YOUR POWER
enewswire@fypower.org Editor
info@fypower.org

NISSAN:
Darryl Harrison - Media
Removed due to response. See ETA 4

BANK OF AMERICA:
Removed due to rapid response. See below!

VERIZON:
Removed due to response. See ETA 3!

McDONALDS:
Removed due to response. See ETA 5

WELLS FARGO:
Removed due to response. Seems the KRXQ website didn't keep their list of corporate advertisers current. I'm sure you're quite shocked, too. See ETA 3

GRIFFIN & REED EYECARE:
info@LASIKworld.com

PRO CITY MORTGAGE:
procity@procitymortgage.com

SUPERVALU INC. (Albertson's)
Investors and Financial Media:
David Oliver, 952-828-4540
david.m.oliver@supervalu.com
or
Steve Bloomquist, 952-828-4144
steve.j.bloomquist@supervalu.com

NEW:
Cost U Less Insurance
online contact form
There are three offices in Sacramento:

Sacramento
2870 Fulton Avenue
(916) 485-5427
Sacramento
7213 Florin Mall Drive Suite A
(916) 427-1222
Sacramento
6315 Mack Road
(916) 689-1414

If someone gets an email address, please let me know.

Cache Creek Casino
888.77.cache
They do not have an email address on record. However, in looking at linkedin, I found the following:
Mike Leonard, VP of Marketing so I'm adding him. Unfortunately, you have to take the step of going to linkedin to get to email him. If someone gets his email address, I will add it to the list.
>

As always, no need to ask permission to link to this or repost the list of advertisers for your own usage on spreading the word.



Dear advertiser on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show on KXRQ Sacramento/Reno,

I'm not certain that you are aware that your brand is now associated with a group of people that feel that it is completely acceptable to incite violence towards at-risk children. The May 28th segment of the Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show on KXRQ Sacramento/Reno contained a half an hour diatribe against children already experiencing more than enough anguish. Some of the offensive quotations include:

If my son, God forbid, if my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes. I would throw a shoe at him. Because you know what? Boys don't wear high heels. And in my house, they definitely don't wear high heels.

You know, my favorite part about hearing these stories about the kids in high school, who the entire high school caters around, lets the boy wear the dress. I look forward to when they go out into society and society beats them down. And they end up in therapy.

Did you know that 9 out of 10 transgender/gender questioning children will face abuse (whether physical, mental or verbal)? Were you aware that, in 2008 alone, that "society beat down" transgendered people by murdering 21 people simply because they were trangendered? Society threatens to beat down transgendered people by a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered. That is society's reaction and this sort of hate speech not only condones it, it encourages this level of extreme violence.

In their follow-up to the diatribe, Arnie and Rob made no apology for their hate speech. Instead, they attempted to sweep it under the rug and portray their words as "funny" while portraying those that are rightfully upset at such hate speech as having no sense of humor.

Your brand, at least in my mind, is now tied to this sort of vitriolic diatribe directed towards children due to your continued advertising on this station.

I respectfully ask, at this time, that you remove all advertising from this station and follow in the footsteps of such companies as Snapple, Chipotle and Sonic. These three companies have already shown their willingness to protect at-risk youth and stand up against violence and hate speech.

I understand that this is a tough economy and that pulling your advertising from such a successful radio station can harm your bottom line. But you must understand that I have to choose where to spend my money. I refuse to spend it somewhere that thinks vitriolic diatribes against at-risk children are acceptable.

I appreciate your time,
[wook]

Dear Flist,

You know, we write a ton of kinks. Genderbend is all over quite a few fandoms. Can we all please take a few minutes to send a few emails to these advertisers?

I bcc'd each of them and then wrote the above letter. You are more than welcome to c/p the letter and the bcc distribution list.

Here:

procity@procitymortgage.com, info@LASIKworld.com, heidi.barker@us.mcd.com, theresa.riley@us.mcd.com, enewswire@fypower.org, info@fypower.org, trcigar@aol.com, public_relations@homedepot.com, david.m.oliver@supervalu.com, steve.j.bloomquist@supervalu.com, Dawn.fones.cv9s@statefarm.com, dbouffard@jewels.com, dale@sleeptrain.com, kschopp@purina.com, Keoni.Wagner@hawaiianair.com, pdugan@mcneilwilson.com, mediarelations@pepboys.com

Send an email and let people know that this sort of hate speech isn't allowed. Please?

<3,
me

ETA: HOMG GUYS! Bank of America just pulled their advertising! We're doing it! I'm now in tears of happiness. You guys! This is AWESOME.
In response to your inquiry, I would like to express our thoughts to you regarding Bank of America’s decision to discontinue advertising on the station and show in question.

Bank of America is proud to be a leader in supporting diversity and continues to be widely recognized for our progressive workplace practices and initiatives to promote inclusion. This commitment to equality and diversity informs every aspect of our enterprise, including our approach to advertising. As a result, we adhere to a set of media buying guidelines for syndicated programming and for local stations that promote inclusion and help our company reach a broad range of diverse customers.

Bank of America prides itself on fostering a corporate culture that is inclusive of all the communities we serve. Our customers, clients and associates speak different languages; support different family structures and life situations; and have unique and personal financial requirements. In order to meet the diverse needs of our customers, we require a variety of products and services, marketing and a diverse workforce that demonstrate and reflect our awareness and appreciation of who our clients and customers are.

We hope the immediate actions that we have taken demonstrate our longstanding support of diversity, and we hope you inform members of your organization of the steps that we have taken to address your concerns.

Thank you for your inquiry and bringing this to our attention.

Joseph L. Goode, SVP
Global Media Relations
Bank of America

ETA2: Two things in this ETA. 1) looks like Albertson's Grocery store is not the Albertson's formerly listed as an advertiser (link). So, I'm removing them from the distribution list. ETA2.5: New Albertson's Contact information has been added to the distribution list.

Secondly - It looks like Carl's Jr/Hardee's has pulled their advertising from KXRQ. Folks. This ROCKS!

Dear Concerned Reader,

Thank you for your email. We have pulled all of our ads from KXRQ. We did this as soon as the matter was brought to our attention.

We appreciate your concern and thank you for contacting CKE Restaurants on this matter.

Regards,

CKE, Public Relations

ETA3: Verizon pulls advertising! w00t!

ETA4: Nissan and Wells Fargo are out as well. That's eight companies. Just a few more to go. And any new ones they find to replace the ones that have pulled out.

As a personal aside - keep the updates and the links coming but I'll be at work where I will have no ability to update this post. So any ETAs will come when I get back from my second job.

ETA5: McDonald's and AT&T are out Plus new contact information for Albertson's.

SUPERVALU INC.
Investors and Financial Media:
David Oliver, 952-828-4540
david.m.oliver@supervalu.com
or
Steve Bloomquist, 952-828-4144
steve.j.bloomquist@supervalu.com

I have edited these into the distribution list and also above with the contact information.

GLAAD has also asked That we continue to contact the station with our concerns. Let's remember to keep it polite and we'll get heard better. I'd rather they realize that intelligent people don't think this is acceptable. That it's not just a stark-raving mad (and I mean that in the pissed off sort of way) mob coming after them.

Contact Information
John Geary
Vice President & General Manager
KRXQ-FM
(916) 339-4209
jgeary@entercom.com

Arnie States
On Air Personality
KRXQ-FM
(916) 334-7777
rad@robarnieanddawn.com

Rob Williams
On Air Personality
KRXQ-FM
(916) 334-7777
rwilliams@entercom.com

BCC list for the show:

imfox@krxq.com, jgeary@entercom.com, kwong@entercom.com, dfield@entercom.com, jboyle@entercom.com, patmartin@krxq.com, jfield@entercom.com, sfisher@entercom.com, wkramer@entercom.com, nmccormack@entercom.com, bpasha@entercom.com

ETA6?: I've had a request for the text of my letter to the radio station. Below the cut is what I sent

Dear Sir or Madam,

Although I'm not certain that you'll even read this letter as I'm certain you're being inundated with letters regarding the recent transphobic statements issued by Rob and Arnie, I wanted to tell you why these comments have me so upset.

It's not just the "joking" incitement of violence towards children that already face a 9 out of 10 risk of being abused. It's not just the "joking" incitement of violence towards a group of people that face the chances of 1 in 12 transgendered people getting murdered versus the rest of us at 1 in 18,500. It's not just the fact that these jokes are not funny.

It's the violent enforcement of rigid gender roles for our children. Far too often, children are told "boys don't cry" and "girls cook, they don't play ball". Children are teased and tormented when they don't fit into these narrow roles.

Lawrence King was shot in his school for not fitting into the narrow gender roles perpetuated and violently endorsed by Rob and Arnie.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/147790/page/1

Carl Joseph Walker hung himself from a bannister in his house after the sort of teasing and "joking" your radio station endorsed and blew off. The sort of bullying and "teasing" you continue to support directly led to this young man hanging himself.
http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/04/12/anti-gay-bullying-drives-11-year-old-to-suicide/

These are just two recent examples. The unfortunate thing is that in 2008 alone, 21 transgendered people were murdered because they were transgendered. Their only crime was being transgendered.

Words have power. Words from popular radio personalities have a lot more power than the teasing and tormenting (verbal torture, as some experts put it) than that of fellow students.

When you say these sorts of things, when you endorse this sort of action, when you make it into a joke, it demeans the daily struggle that all children (and adults) go through. Boys can like ballet and girls can like baseball. Neither one makes any of them gay or even gender questioning. When your radio stations reacts violently and negatively (whether with words or action), you are attempting to take us back into a world where women had no power and were chattel.

Your words contain so much misogyny that it's appalling. The fact is that the act of playacting is not and should never be anything that deserves such vitriolic statements.

I truly hope that you think about the words and the meaning behind the words. I hope you look at what you are condoning and endorsing because the sentiment and tacit endorsement of such violent reactions towards those that might not fit the rigid and narrow gender roles of the past can only lead to more Carl Joseph Walkers.

Respectfully,
[wook]

From the most recent update on the GLAADblog:

The pressure seems to have caused a stir at the radio station. Today at 5:28pm EST, we received an email from the General Manager promising a phone call this Monday with a possible resolution.

Me: Amazing what losing 10 corporate sponsors will do to a radio station. Suddenly they're not so funny, huh?

Also - when I wake in the morning, I will add a list of the people that have removed their advertising from this station so we can send off thank you letters, as well. I'll also respond to comments. Right now, though, I'm knackered after working 19 hours straight. I hope you all understand. Go forth and eat burritos and Sonic and Carl's Jr/Hardees. Keep your Verizon and your AT&T cell phones.

You guys are seriously the best thing ever.

ETA6: So I've had requests for a new distribution list.

The only new emails I've been able to find are for the Albertson's people. I will update this list, as well, if anyone can track down email addresses for the two new corporate sponsors/advertisers.

david.m.oliver@supervalu.com, steve.j.bloomquist@supervalu.com, Dawn.fones.cv9s@statefarm.com, dbouffard@jewels.com, dale@sleeptrain.com, kschopp@purina.com, Keoni.Wagner@hawaiianair.com, pdugan@mcneilwilson.com, mediarelations@pepboys.com

Updated! Thanks to stitchesandlace for finding all this for me!

Also - I've had a request for a list of whom to send thank you notes to. Below is the distribution list that I've put together (will be updated should anyone new be added):

corpcsf@wellsfargo.com, heidi.barker@us.mcd.com, Debra.Lewis@VerizonWireless.com, john.britton@att.com, joseph.l.goode@bankofamerica.com, Darryll.harrison@nissan-usa.com, pr@ckr.com, astrohm@barkleyus.com, mediarelations@chipotle.com

Please note that I cannot find an email address for Snapple. They do have a Contact Us form, however.

Finally (for this ETA) - Googlecache of the sponsors. Anyone finds an email address they'd like added to the distribution lists, let me know.

Red Bull - Still no working email address for them but I do now have a fax line (thanks morgandawn
RBNA Headquarters

1740 Stewart Street
90404 Santa Monica
+1 310 393-4647
+1 310 230-2361

Comments

[sungendrum.livejournal.com]

Here via dyson's post. Thank you so much for all the work you have done on this. It's inspiring to see someone stand up against this kind of bigotry, rather than simply let it go because their is 'nothing they can do.' I've sent out emails and asked my friends to do the same. Thank you again for how much work you obviously put into this.

[wook77.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not a big believer in the "nothing they can do" philosophy. I cannot tell you how many brickwalls I've banged my head against. I'm hopeful that this isn't another one as the radio station finally seems to be responding to the LGBTQ community.

I appreciate you being here for the ride!

[rhibrew.livejournal.com]

You are so awesome for organizing this, I have just sent off e-mails and posted the links and info on a runboard message board that I share. Thank You!

[wook77.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I think you're awesome for helping to spread the word!

[orbitaldiamonds.livejournal.com]

Here via someone on Twitter. I will be copying this to my flist and sending emails post-haste. :)

[wook77.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I'm very glad that the word is spreading and we're all making a stand!

[rubyemerald-1.livejournal.com]

I applaud your stance. It's magical what can happen when people join forces for good. You would think anti-vilification laws would cover this issue and that, even more than losing sponsors and advertising dollars (which in these cases often enough is what hurts them most), the djs should feel the force of the law. Gender is now known to be a really fluid thing and only the ignorant remain steadfastly loyal to an outdated set of values. These people seem to have brains configured to egocentricity and can cope with no worldview other than their own. At least they're hearing not everyone thinks like they do.

[wook77.livejournal.com]

I really thought like 5 or 6 people would comment with "that sucks" and that would be that. Instead, I've got this overflowing post of AWESOME and it makes me so happy.

The sad bit is that I'm certain the radio station is only responding because we've gotten 10 sponsors to pull their advertising and not because of any altruistic models of their own.

I just cannot understand what kind of person makes these sorts of comments. I also cannot understand what sort of person finds these comments funny or entertaining. What is so entertaining about someone saying they're going to beat a kid with a shoe (whether they have a kid or not)?

Yeah, I'm glad the message has seemed to have come across. I'll be watching on Monday for the reaction from the station.

[amazonziti.livejournal.com]

Thanks for doing all of this to help mobilize people! The form letters are a great idea, and much harder to dismiss than all of us writing distracted, hodge-podge emails -- or hate mail, which is not what we need.

I am pleased and relieved that so many people are getting angry and responding thoughtfully. You're pretty terrific. =)

[wook77.livejournal.com]

It's really not that much work so I'm just glad that others are helping to respond!

I'm a big believer in grass roots movements and this really reinforces that!

I think you're pretty awesome for being here so mutual appreciation time! <3

[gcaedmon.livejournal.com]

thx so much for this! we need more people like you on our planet.

[wook77.livejournal.com]

*blushes*

Thank you. I'm just glad that there seems to be a lot more people like me *points to all the comments and you*. It's awesome seeing so many people responding!

[czardeon.livejournal.com]

freedom of speech?

[wook77.livejournal.com]

You're exactly right! We do have the right to say that we do not feel that this is acceptable speech. Thanks for pointing that out!

Red Bull

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

fax letters to

RBNA Headquarters

1740 Stewart Street
90404 Santa Monica
+1 310 393-4647
+1 310 230-2361

Re: Red Bull

[wook77.livejournal.com]

Ohh! Thanks! I'll edit that information in!

[stitchesandlace.livejournal.com]

Big win!!

Sorry for the capslock, this is a direct c&p from their website (http://www.robarnieanddawn.com/):

UPDATED JUNE 7TH, 2009, 11:50AM

TO OUR LOYAL ROB, ARNIE AND DAWN FOLLOWERS,

WE HAVE FAILED YOU. AS A SHOW, AS PEOPLE, AS BROADCASTERS, WE HAVE SIMPLY FAILED ON ALMOST EVERY LEVEL.

WE PRESENTED OUR OPINIONS ON A VERY SENSITIVE SUBJECT IN A HATEFUL, CHILDISH AND CRUDE FASHION; AND THEN, GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO RETRACT THOSE REMARKS, WE DEFENDED THEM.

SINCE THEN, YOU, OUR LOYAL LISTENERS, HAVE MADE IT CLEAR TO US THAT WE WENT TOO FAR. THE RESPONSE HAS BEEN OVERWHELMING. NONE OF YOU SAID THAT WE COULDN’T HAVE OPINIONS, YET SO MANY OF YOU SAID THAT THE WAY WE GAVE THEM CROSSED THE LINE. FURTHER, YOU SAID THAT OUR ATTEMPT TO MASK OUR COMMENTS AS “JOKES THAT WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY OUR AUDIENCE,” WAS UNACCEPTABLE. I WOULD SAY NOW THAT IT WAS WORSE THAN THAT, IT WAS COWARDLY. YOU HAVE MADE THAT CLEAR.

WE HAVE REACHED OUT TO VARIOUS GROUPS AND ASKED FOR A CHANCE TO MAKE THIS RIGHT; TO RESPOND, WITH THEIR PARTICIPATION, TO THE EDUCATION THAT OUR AUDIENCE HAS PROVIDED US. THAT OPPORTUNITY HAS BEEN GRACIOUSLY GRANTED THIS THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 11TH. AT 7:30 A.M.

THE WORD APOLOGY APPEARS NO WHERE IN THIS LETTER FOR A REASON. WE ALREADY HID FROM DOING THE RIGHT THING ONCE AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. APOLOGIZING IN A WRITTEN, POSTED STATEMENT IS A FORM OF COWARDICE. WE WILL SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID THIS THURSDAY.

ON A FINAL, PERSONAL NOTE, AS THE LEADER AND OWNER OF THE SHOW, I HAVE MADE THE DECISION THAT WE NEED TO REFRAIN FROM BROADCASTING NEW EPISODES UNTIL WE CAN ADDRESS THIS ON THURSDAY . WE WILL RETURN TO THE AIR AT 7:30 A.M. JUNE 11TH.

ROB WILLIAMS
ROB, ARNIE AND DAWN

[wook77.livejournal.com]

EEEEEEEEEEEE! I was just posting about that! I'm so excited! But at the same time, they've come back with the apologies before and then this happened.

Fuckers.

[captkatemacabre.livejournal.com]

Way to go- seriously people need to grow up and learn that the world is changing and they need to go with the flow or be kicked out. Your letter was excellent and I think you're doing a great thing standing up for the cause. Best of luck!

[amazonziti.livejournal.com]

I got a totally cool response from Sleep Train:

Thank you for taking the time to write us regarding the comments made on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show on KRXQ. Rob, Arnie and Dawn have done a good job endorsing for us for many years. However, this time they went too far. We do not condone their comments in any way and we have made it clear to KRXQ’s management, Rob, Arnie and Dawn that their conduct was unacceptable.

Sleep Train is proud of our history of diversity and the inclusion of all the communities we serve. As a result, we have pulled our ads off of KRXQ until further notice.

Sincerely,


Dale Carlsen, President

The Sleep Train, Inc.

They don't really mince words, huh? How pleasing.

[miarae.livejournal.com]

I just got the same response. Thank you for being completely awesome Wook <3

my responses

[magdalyna.livejournal.com]

Dear {me},

We appreciate your feedback regarding the programming on KRXQ which took place May 28th 2009.

Albertsons stores throughout the United States are owned and operated by two separate companies - Albertson's LLC and SUPERVALU. Albertsons LLC, which previously owned and operated the Albertsons stores in Northern California , exited the market area in 2007, when our stores there were purchased by Save Mart. At that time, Albertsons ceased advertising with and sponsoring radio shows with stations located there, and we have no ongoing agreement with KRXQ for sponsoring any programs.

SUPERVALU operates the remaining Albertsons stores located in Southern California , but has never sponsored shows or purchased advertising from KRXQ.

We understand your concerns, and we are taking this matter very seriously. We appreciate your bringing this matter to our attention.

Service Request #: 1-121003747

Sincerely,

Michael M.

Corporate Customer Care
=
Dear (me),

Thank you for your comments regarding State Farm running advertisements on station KRXQ in Sacramento. We have read your concerns and those of others with similar concerns. We take very seriously each comment we receive.

State Farm has not advertised on KRXQ in 2009. Once this particular show ran, we discovered that the station had not removed our company logo from their website and that mistake has been rectified.

Thank you again for your e-mail.

Sincerely,

Jairon L. Wills

State Farm Corporate Customer Service Supervisor
=
Thank you for taking the time to write us regarding the comments made on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show on KRXQ. Rob, Arnie and Dawn have done a good job endorsing for us for many years. However, this time they went too far. We do not condone their comments in any way and we have made it clear to KRXQ’s management, Rob, Arnie and Dawn that their conduct was unacceptable.

Sleep Train is proud of our history of diversity and the inclusion of all the communities we serve. As a result, we have pulled our ads off of KRXQ until further notice.

Sincerely,

Dale Carlsen, President

The Sleep Train, Inc.

=

[ely-screw.livejournal.com]

"At that time, Albertsons ceased advertising with and sponsoring [KRXQ] and we have no ongoing agreement with KRXQ for sponsoring any programs."

This was sent as part of a response to my email, they're claiming that they haven't been sponsoring any radio stations in the area around KRXQ in a while. Has anyone else heard this?

[spyderpenguin.livejournal.com]

I forwarded your email to the list you had a few days back and0 got a reply back from two people yesterday...

one from Jarion L. Wills at State Farm:
Dear Sharon,



Thank you for your comments regarding State Farm running advertisements on station KRXQ in Sacramento. We have read your concerns and those of others with similar concerns. We take very seriously each comment we receive.



State Farm has not advertised on KRXQ in 2009. Once this particular show ran, we discovered that the station had not removed our company logo from their website and that mistake has been rectified.



Thank you again for your e-mail.



Sincerely,



Jairon L. Wills

State Farm Corporate Customer Service Supervisor

----------------------------------------

and then another from Dale Carlsen, President of Sleep Train:

Thank you for taking the time to write us regarding the comments made on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show on KRXQ. Rob, Arnie and Dawn have done a good job endorsing for us for many years. However, this time they went too far. We do not condone their comments in any way and we have made it clear to KRXQ’s management, Rob, Arnie and Dawn that their conduct was unacceptable.

Sleep Train is proud of our history of diversity and the inclusion of all the communities we serve. As a result, we have pulled our ads off of KRXQ until further notice.

Sincerely,

Dale Carlsen, President

The Sleep Train, Inc.

--------------------------------------------------

Two back out of however is more than I expected, and I'll be sure to let you know if anymore reply to me! :D

[pirateninjax.livejournal.com]

This just makes me so sick. I've linked this on my facebook to share.