Elon Musk triumphant as IBM, Disney, and Comcast end yearlong advertising boycott on X



Big-name brands have ended their advertising boycott against Elon Musk's X after approximately a year of refusing to support the platform.

Comcast, Discovery, Disney, IBM, Lionsgate Entertainment, and Warner Bros. have resumed their ad spending on X, with Musk thanking CEO Linda Yaccarino for her work on bringing the companies back onto his platform.

"Just want to say that we super appreciate major brands resuming advertising on our platform!" Musk wrote. "Thanks [Linda Yaccarino] and the whole X team for your hard work in restoring confidence in our platform and ensuring that advertising content only appears where advertisers want it shown."

In November 2023, the brands mentioned above (along with Apple) dialed back their ad campaigns after claims their branding appeared next to "anti-Semetic content" and "hate speech," AdWeek reported.

'The censorship apparatus is coming to an end.'

Without the major companies, brands like Karma Shopping and Canles Shoes became the top ad-buyers on X. Overall, ad revenue dropped by a reported 98% year over year, but Musk remained principled in his cause.

"I'll say what I want to say, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it," Musk told CNBC at the time.

Political commentator Ian Miles Cheong called the boycott a failed effort "the moment Donald Trump won the election."

"The censorship apparatus is coming to an end, and the advertisers know it. Beyond that, advertisers can undoubtedly see the strength of X, and depriving themselves of profits for the sake of sticking it to Elon clearly doesn't work," Cheong added.

— (@)

The new report comes after claims in September that there would be a mass exodus of advertisers from the platform over concerns of "extreme content" that could damage brand images.

However, that was after X announced a lawsuit against major advertisers in August, following a House Judiciary Committee report that pointed to an illegal boycott against the company.

The World Federation of Advertisers, which represents some of the world's largest companies and advertisers, was accused of directly organizing boycotts and targeting disfavored platforms, content creators, and news organizations in an effort to demonetize them.

BlazeTV host James Poulos said the smoke surrounding the advertising conflict was cleared once the nature of the report was revealed.

"Rather than mild-mannered normies afraid of controversial content on X, advertisers operate as a cartel of far-left propagandists, reaping profits from taxpayers on government contracts while conspiring to silence free speech at odds with their radical ideologies."

Concurrently, many left-wing celebrities are announcing plans to leave X. This includes MSNBC's Joy Reid, who said she doesn't want to support the platform, and ex-CNN host Don Lemon, who claimed he disagrees with the new terms of service.

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Catholic high school girls' soccer team boycotts game against school with infamous male player



A Catholic high school girls' soccer team in New Hampshire refused to play against another school with a male on its team.

Bishop Brady High School in Concord took a stand against Kearsage Regional High School, which has a boy on its girls' team despite state law prohibiting such participation.

The Kearsage Regional school board reportedly has voted 6-1 in favor of allowing Jacques and other boys to play on the same teams as girls.

Bishop Brady girls refused to show up for the game Friday, Fox News said, citing multiple reports.

The team from Kearsarge Regional High School features a male star athlete named Maelle Jacques, who plays goalkeeper. The boy is already well known for making headlines after winning a state championship in the girls' high jump in February.

Jacques is reportedly 6'1" tall and has sparked outrage with at least one other team in the region. The Hillsboro-Deering High School soccer team refused to play against Kearsage just three weeks prior — perhaps signaling a trend that young women in the state will not stand for unfairness.

Despite the New Hampshire state law, a federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama granted an injunction Sept. 10 allowing two male athletes to continue playing with female athletes — and even to change in the same locker room as female athletes — until a final ruling has been made. Judge Landya McCafferty was appointed in 2013.

The other athlete in question, Parker Tirrell, plays for Plymouth Regional High School.

Plymouth was the center of controversy when parents of students at Bow High School decided to show their support for female athletes by wearing wristbands with "XX" on them when their school played against a team with the boy.

School officials reportedly stopped the game, demanded parents take off the wristbands, and had police issue "no trespass" orders against parents.

"My daughter's playing in the homecoming game this weekend, and I'm banned," a parent said at the time. "I can't watch her play in homecoming — which is ridiculous," the father added.

The Kearsage Regional school board reportedly has voted 6-1 in favor of allowing Jacques and other boys to play on the same teams as girls.

Fed up

Women across the country have become fed up with playing against males in their sports, with five different women's volleyball teams in the NCAA forfeiting matches against San Jose State University, which has a male athlete on the women's team.

"The vast majority of us decided that this isn't right, [that] we need to protect women's sports, and we're going to forfeit," Nevada's team captain Sia LiiLii told Blaze News.

At the same time, a group of former athletes and legal activists attended a United Nations General Assembly event and urged the international body to take a stand on behalf of women.

Attorney Kristen Waggoner and Reem Alsalem, the U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, called for the international sports community to keep men out of women's sports.

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Netflix co-founder donated $7 million to Kamala's campaign. Then came a tidal wave of cancellations.



In the summer, it was revealed that the co-founder of Netflix not only endorsed the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris but also deposited millions into the coffers of the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. The heavy-handed advocacy for Harris appears to have backfired as cancelations on the streaming behemoth soared directly after the political endorsement.

As Blaze News reported in early July, several high-profile Democratic donors demanded that President Joe Biden drop out of the 2024 presidential race following his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Included among the Democratic donors who called on Biden to drop out was Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings.

Netflix is the latest major company to suffer a boycott at the hands of conservative consumers.

"Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous," Hastings said in July.

Once Harris was installed as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Hastings donated a whopping $7 million to Kamala's campaign. Hastings told The Information that it was the single-largest political donation that he had ever doled out.

Hastings, a longtime Democratic donor, has a net worth of $4.3 billion, according to Forbes.

Hastings said of Kamala's campaign, “After the depressing debate, we are in the game again.”

Hastings wrote on the X social media platform on July 23, "Congrats to Kamala Harris — now it is time to win."

As soon as the extremely generous donation and public endorsement was revealed, it ignited a backlash against Hastings and the streaming behemoth. Many conservatives called for a boycott of Netflix in response to Hastings supporting Harris.

The hashtag "CancelNetflix" began trending on social media. Many users shared screenshots of their canceled Netflix subscriptions online.

A new report revealed that Netflix suffered a major spike in cancelations after the streaming service's chairman endorsed Harris.

Antenna — a research website that has a mission to "expand knowledge of subscriber behavior" — reported that the rate of Netflix cancelations nearly tripled in the United States immediately following the Harris endorsement by Hastings. The tidal wave of cancelations reportedly lasted a few days.

Some subscribers were also upset because Netflix discontinued its basic plan for new users in the same month.

However, Bloomberg reported that "the five-day period after Hastings’ endorsement was unusual, even for July." July 26 — three days after Hastings' endorsement of Harris — was the single-worst day for Netflix cancelations this year.

The outlet noted that the surge of cancelations wasn't as severe as the 2020 boycott of Netflix over the movie "Cuties," which many conservatives believed sexually exploited children.

Netflix did not respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg.

Netflix is the latest major company to suffer a boycott at the hands of conservative consumers. Companies such as Bud Light, Target, Disney, Ford, Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, Jack Daniel's, and John Deere have seen conservatives boycott or threaten to boycott over liberal policies.

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'Now it is war': Elon Musk and X sue advertisers over illegal boycott that allegedly cost the company billions



X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced a lawsuit against advertisers after a House Judiciary Committee report revealed an illegal boycott against the company.

The report, titled "GARM's (Global Alliance for Responsible Media) Harm," detailed the work of the World Federation of Advertisers, which controls GARM and represents some of the world's largest companies and advertisers.

According to a report by the New York Post, the WFA controls 90% of global marketing spending, which amounts to $1 trillion per year and includes companies like Disney and Coca-Cola.

'The illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives cost X billions of dollars.'

In a post made directly on X, Yaccarino remarked, "I thought I had seen everything."

"The report disclosed that their investigation had found evidence of an illegal boycott against many companies, including X," the CEO continued.

Yaccarino then announced an antitrust lawsuit against GARM, the WFA, and GARM members CVS Health, Mars, Orsted, and Unilever.

"This is not a decision we took lightly, but it is a direct consequence of their actions," she added.

X owner Elon Musk shared Yaccarino's X post and simply added, "We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war."

— (@)

Yaccarino boasted of X's growing numbers, noting that despite being an effective platform for advertisers and even surpassing requests made by GARM itself, the company still lost billions.

"The illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives cost X billions of dollars."

The CEO pointed out that the House committee obtained evidence that showed "GARM and its members directly organized boycotts and used other indirect tactics to target disfavored platforms, content creators, and news organizations in an effort to demonetize and, in effect, limit certain choices for consumers.'"

BlazeTV's James Poulos said that conflict between Musk and X's advertisers has been escalating for years, and now the reason for that has finally become clear.

"Rather than mild-mannered normies afraid of controversial content on X, advertisers operate as a cartel of far-left propagandists, reaping profits from taxpayers on government contracts while conspiring to silence free speech at odds with their radical ideologies."

Poulos added that the "ugly truth" about the matter is that "corporate cartels" have been revealed to have a stranglehold on online discourse and national politics.

"No group, whatever its beliefs, should wield such control over the bounds of our words and thoughts on the most fundamental issues. Fortunately, antitrust law offers a powerful tool to help protect us from that kind of silent digital coup against our constitutionally guaranteed rights and form of government," he concluded.

The House report also reportedly obtained internal emails from the advertising alliance that showed its head, Robert Rakowitz, allegedly bragging that X was "80% below revenue forecasts" since the company was targeted.

Rakowitz later claimed the email was a "self-effacing joke."

CVS Health, Orsted, Mars, and Unilever have not released public statements on the matter and did not respond to requests for comment from the New York Post or Fox News.

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After Tractor Supply victory, a normalcy advocate is taking John Deere to task over its woke capture



The Tennessee-based retail chain Tractor Supply Co., established in 1938, fell captive to DEI and other systems ostensibly crafted to maximize corporate compliance with leftist ideology.

As Carmel Richardson recently noted in Compact magazine, the company not only required its employees to undergo compulsory "LGBTQIA+ training" but funded sex-change mutilations through its health plan and sponsored so-called "family-friendly" transvestite performances.

Having undoubtedly gleaned insights into corporations' low tolerance for consumer backlash from the Bud Light saga, conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck and others campaigned to test Tractor Supply's commitment to race-obsessive policies, gender ideology, and an altogether alienating radical worldview.

Realizing that such commitments were unpopular with its customer base, Tractor Supply quickly abandoned its woke posturing, announcing on June 27 that it had taken "this feedback to heart."

The company revealed that it would no longer submit data to the mammoth LGBT activist group known as the Human Rights Campaign; would eliminate "DEI roles and retire [its] current DEI goals"; withdraw its carbon emission goals; and refocus its team member engagement groups on mentoring, networking, and supporting the business.

While this singular battle against woke was won in short order, the broader war rages on.

Starbuck shared a video to X on Tuesday, indicating that the next battle would be aimed at liberating John Deere. Deere & Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as DE — a stock that has taken a tumble in recent months.

The conservative filmmaker noted that John Deere "has been one of the most beloved brands by conservative farmers but recently on CEO John May's watch, they've gone woke."

Starbuck cited the company's sponsorship of pride events for children, its expectation that employees state their "preferred pronouns" -- "such as he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/theirs" -- in all communications, and its commitment to DEI policies as three of several signs of the company's ideological capture.

According to the company's code of business conduct, employees are expected to support diversity, equity, and inclusion and complete "required diversity awareness training to better understand [their] responsibilities in this area."

'John Deere seems to have forgotten who their customers are.'

Last year, Human Rights Campaign gave John Deere a score of 95 out of possible 100. According to the LGBT lobby group, Deere & Co.

  • provides "four LGBTQ+ internal training elements (including an intersectionality training)";
  • provides at "least one LGBTQ+ inclusive data collection effort";
  • provides "Gender Transition Guidelines and ata least one additional transgender inclusive policy or practice for its employees";
  • has "either an LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group or an LGBTQ+ Inclusive Diversity Council";
  • has at least five distinct "LGBTQ+ efforts of Outreach or Engagement to Broader LGBTQ+ Community";
  • follows "an LGBTQ+ Supplier Non-Discrimination policy ... and an LGBTQ+ inclusive philanthropic giving guideline"; and
  • has an employment non-discrimination policy that "includes sexual orientation and gender identity for all operations."

Besides the company's apparent efforts to pander to LGBT activists, Starbuck took issue with John Deere's apparent de-prioritization of American workers, noting that "Deere also just announced layoffs in the US and that they plan to shift large segments of production away from the US to Mexico."

The company is planning to fire roughly 600 employees across three American factories amidst a shift of production to a facility in Ramos, Mexico, reported CNN.

As of Aug. 30, around 310 American employees will lose their jobs at two Iowa-based John Deere plants in Dubuque and Davenport. Another 280 workers will be laid off from a factory in East Moline, Illinois.

Extra to canning American workers and chasing after LGBT activists' approval, the company appears immune to the pleading of groups like the National Legal and Policy Center, which has criticized in recent months John Deere's pursuit of so-called "green" policies, which appear to be at odds with the very industries it serves.

"To put it mildly," wrote Starbuck, "John Deere seems to have forgotten who their customers are. Having a farm myself, I'm disgusted that a once great American brand is now taking this turn to seemingly embrace leftist policies that are diametrically opposed to the values of most farmers."

"What's unknown is whether CEO John May is knowingly forcing these policies or if it's gotten out of control and he's out of the loop on how bad it is," continued Starbuck. "His response to this story will be very revealing as to his culpability in the implementation of woke policies."

In his video, Starbuck provided potential customers who might want to speak out with the company's email and corporate service number, noting that his intent is not destruction but rather to "inform consumers about the values major companies are adopting so they can make choices about what they're willing to support."

"When we use our voices and wallets to vote our values, we can change the world and we can restore great American companies to a culture of sanity, meritocracy and culture war neutrality OR we can inspire competitors to step up to the plate to fight for our business," added Starbuck.

As with his previous video criticizing Tractor Supply, Starbuck's latest critique appears to have gone viral, netting well over 4 million views just on X.

Blaze News has reached out to John Deere for comment and will update this article in the event of a reply.

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Glenn Beck: Here's why Tractor Supply said goodbye to woke DEI



Tractor Supply Co. is a farming supplies retailer headquartered in Tennessee, and it's just gone where no large modern company has gone before.

The company is dropping the diversity, equity, and inclusion goals that it had previously set for itself. In addition, DEI roles will be eliminated, carbon emissions goals will be withdrawn, and the company will stop sending data to the Human Rights Campaign.

Tractor Supply made the move after information began circulating that the company was deeply involved in DEI and ESG initiatives, and its stock price took a nosedive.

“We work hard living up to our mission and our values every day, and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve,” the company wrote in a statement. “We’ve heard from our customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart.”

The backlash began when conservative Robby Starbuck highlighted the company's actions on X, which included DEI hiring practices, in-office Pride Month decorations, climate change activism, and “funding sex changes.”

“He decimated them,” Glenn Beck says. “Just took them apart with everything that they have.”

Stu Burguiere is impressed by the company's response.

“It’s very rare,” Burguiere tells Glenn. “Even Bud Light, who seemingly overtly changed directions, right? Like you could tell by their actions. They never came out and said, ‘And just so you know, we’re totally off the bandwagon.’ They just kind of did it and hoped you noticed.”

Glenn, however, remains skeptical.

“I’d like to see if this is just, you know, another customer service kind of thing and a campaign ad,” he says.


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