Holden Pulls Advertising from 2DAY FM after Sandilands Rant

24-November-2011

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So Kyle Sandilands has delivered a hateful tirade towards a woman - hitting headlines just in time for White Ribbon Day. What else is new you may ask? Difference this time is key stakeholders and sponsors - including Holden - are pulling advertising worth millions and scrambling to disassociate themselves from both Sandilands and the 2DAY FM radio station.

In case you missed it, here’s a quick summary of what went down: Ali Stephenson, a news.com.au entertainment reporter, wrote an unfavourable review of Channel 7’s Kyle and Jackie O’s new show A Night With The Stars. In true Sandilands style, he reacted to this criticism on air with a personal attack on Stephenson, labelling her a “fat slag” and “a little troll”, and made derogatory remarks about her hair and breasts before stating he would "hunt her down".

Again, not entirely out of character for Sandilands, yet with thousands taking to the internet to express their outrage, the advertisers on the Kyle and Jackie O show may just be the ones to pull the pin on Sandilands brilliant career having been left with little choice but to side with their consumers - the (female) customer is always right, no?

Car giant Holden yesterday issued a statement conveying their disappointment with Kyle’s behaviour and explaining their decision to immediately yank its sponsorship of the Kyle and Jackie O show.

"Recent comments made on the Kyle and Jackie O Breakfast Show do not in any way reflect the views or opinions of Holden and we are very disappointed to hear Kyle's personal attack on a journalist."

"We believe the show is no longer in line with Holden's core values and as a result we have taken action to withdraw our sponsorship of the program, effective immediately."

Electrical appliances retailer The Good Guys followed suit shortly after. To date, Blackmores, Harvey Norman, Crazy John’s, Vodafone and Fantastic Furniture have also pulled their ads.

And as more people vent their views on Twitter  - the #vilekyle hashtag is currently trending in Australia - and with an online petition calling for 2Day and Fox FM sponsors to cancel their advertising until Sandilands is dumped from his radio show already boasting 8,600 signatures; will the show’s remaining advertisers Duracell, Foster’s and Telstra acquiesce to their consumers’ requests? As Kyle would say - stay tuned...