Delta pulls ‘Daily Show’ ads over ‘distasteful’ skit
Source: CNN
By Dan Gilgoff and Dave Alsup, CNN
(CNN) – Delta Airlines has pulled its advertising from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” over a skit in which Stewart featured a picture of a manger in between a naked woman’s legs, the company said Tuesday.
In the April skit, Stewart jokingly encouraged women to use “vagina mangers” to “protect their reproductive organs from unwanted medical intrusions.”
In a statement Tuesday, Delta Airlines spokesperson Leslie Parker said that “We’re always re-evaluating our advertising opportunities and updating our strategy in an effort to reach our desired audience.”
“Delta doesn’t discriminate nor do we condone discrimination in regard to age, race, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or gender,” Parker’s statement continued. She said that Delta made the decision to pull its ads on Thursday.
CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories
The Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, a conservative group that has waged a weeks-long campaign pressuring Stewart to apologize for the skit, had pressured Delta and other Comedy Central advertisers to pull their Daily Show ads.
Catholic League President Bill Donohue has encouraged a boycott of Kellogg’s because it has declined to pull its spots.
On Tuesday, Donohue announced that he’d sent a letter to the leadership at Viacom, the corporate parent of Comedy Central, which airs “The Daily Show.”
“You should be as offended as we are,” the letter said. “But if you are not, consider a picture of your own mother inserted there instead. Perhaps you now understand how the 80% of the nation that is Christian feel.”
Jon Stewart: Host of Television Daily show in USA
Editor’s comment:
There is no easy litmus test to know what should and should not be allowed under freedom of speech. But, it really depends on the wisdom and balance of the opinion leaders in any society.
In some societies at one extreme, they ban the religions of minority and even scientific discourse and at other extreme there is hurtful speech against religious leaders, vulgarity and pornography.
The Golden rule can help here to some degree and let me quote its formulation from Confucianism: Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state. (Analects 12:2)
Categories: Americas
One of my professors once said regarding freedom of any kind – ‘Your freedom to swing your arms end where my nose begins’. There is an auto imposing limit to personal freedom in all basic rights. Words can hurt others the same way as a knockout punch.
President Thomas Jefferson was discussing protection of free speech. A friend asked, what about the speech we do not like. He said that is the speech, I want to protect.We have no reason to protect what we agree with.
The US Supreme court has ruled that burning American Flag in public is covered under 1st Ameendment(freedom of speech)& is NOT a CRIME.
GET IT.
Please define antisemitism and can any one deny holocaust? Trying to bring out one possible example of limitations on freedom of speech.
By defining both extremes, lack of freedom on one hand and undue liberty on the other, where people can agree to harmful consequences, we may be able to define broad limits of reasonable speech.