With 9 Gone, Does Rush Limbaugh Have Any Advertisers Left?

Editor’s  note: This is a quickly-developing story. See the latest on Rush Limbaugh here.

Rush Limbaugh’s brand is so toxic that he’s lost nine advertisers already, and has only a small handful left. Will they stay to the end?

Rush Limbaugh‘s list of active advertisers has been decimated. Limbaugh lost eight advertisers within a forty-eight hour period over the weekend after he called 30-year old female college student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” and followed up after immense outrage from the Left by demanding that Fluke post online for him to see videos of her having sex. Late Saturday afternoon, having at that point lost six advertisers, Limbaugh issued a lukewarm apology, only to lose two more advertisers shortly thereafter. Then, less than one hour ago, Limbaugh lost one of his last key advertisers, AOL.

AOL joins Carbonite, ProFlowers, Citrix Online and all its businesses, including the popular GoToMeeting and GoToMyPC, Legal Zoom, Cleveland Cavaliers, Quicken Loans, Sleep Number, and The Sleep Train in dropping  – permanently or temporarily — the Rush Limbaugh show.

So, the question now becomes, does Rush Limbaugh have any advertisers left, and will those who “suspended” their advertising on his radio show and website return?

Unfortunately, while we can’t know yet, no doubt some of the advertisers Limbaugh lost will return. And if and when they do, it will be even more important to call them out publicly for what will be their hypocrisy.

Even the Christian Science Monitor minutes ago asked, “Has Rush Limbaugh permanently damaged his career?”

For Limbaugh, one problem right now is that his apology was not exactly a symphonic mea culpa. In it, he notes that he’s an entertainer and says he “did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.”

But what’s “slut” but a personal attack? Limbaugh had also said Fluke should post tapes of her intimate acts online so “we can see what we’re getting for our money.” Is that not … pretty personal?

Critics thus clam that the degree of apology is not yet equivalent to the nature of the attack.

“This was not a case of bad ‘word choice’. It was a brutally sexualized accusation, against a specific person, prolonged over three days,” writes conservative commentator David Frum in a CNN piece.

But right now, Rush Limbaugh does have a small list of advertisers left. It’s challenging to be certain if the list of advertisers (below) are still advertising, directly or indirectly, on Rush Limbaugh’s show and/or website, but ToppleBush, which has been tracking Limbaugh’s advertisers for years, has published this list, adding the caveat that they “are still in the process of determining if these companies are current advertisers.”

Tax Resolution Services [TRS]

Lifelock

Hillsdale College

Health/Heart and Body

Allstate Insurance

Sears

Lear Capital

Some, like Sears, claim they do not advertise on Limbaugh’s show, yet StopRush states they still do. AllState via Twitter stated, “We do advertise across a # of programs but dont have the opp to review content of every show. We are not a sponsor of Rush,” which is inaccurate at best. If you are an advertiser you absolutely can pull your advertising from anyplace you don’t want it.

It’s important to keep the pressure on AllState, LifeLock, Sear, and others.

By the way, Limbaugh’s apology on Saturday was a short statement in which he revealed that every moment of his 35 years on the air have merely been “absurdity,” and that his comments and positions are not meant to be taken seriously. In other words, Limbaugh retreated to his supporters’ (faulty) default position that the conservative radio talk show shock jock is merely an “entertainer.”

There is, of course at least one Facebook page advocating against Limbaugh’s advertisers.

It’s also important you thank those advertisers who dropped Limbaugh, as they are being attached by the right. See on Twitter #RallyForRush. Of course, there’s also the Twitter Hashtag #BoycottRush, which is far more active! Because, who wants to associate with a misogynistic ignorant bigot?

Related:

Add AOL To List Of Rush’s Advertisers Fleeing Toxic Limbaugh Brand

UPDATE: Why Is LifeLock Still Sponsoring Rush Limbaugh?

Now 8: Limbaugh Brand So Toxic Two More Advertisers Quit After “Apology”

Limbaugh: Apologies, Excuses and Sluts

Limbaugh Brand Poison As List Of Advertisers Quitting Jumps Yet Again

Breaking: Fifth Advertiser Quits Rush Limbaugh After “Slut” Comments

Santorum On “Slut” Slur: Limbaugh An “Entertainer” Who Was “Being Absurd”

Limbaugh “Should Apologize” Says Scott Brown, First GOPer To Denounce

Third Limbaugh Advertiser Quits After Rush Calls 30 Year Old A ‘Slut’

Limbaugh Advertiser Exits Stage Left After Rush’s “Slut” Comments

Limbaugh: Law Student GOP Wouldn’t Let Testify Must Post Sex Tapes Online

Limbaugh Calls Law Student GOP Wouldn’t Let Testify “Prostitute” And “Slut”