McDonald's Pulls Out of Hot97 Over Tsunami Song Debacle

[Mr. Humonculous]

McDonald's Pulls Out of Hot97 Over Tsunami Song Debacle
Friday - January 28, 2005
by Rich Rock   

The public outcry over the "Tsunami Song" parody on Hot97 has reached the ears of McDonald's which has said it is suspending all advertising on the Miss Jones In The Morning Show.

Hot97 is feeling the heat from the public and now in their pockets as major advertiser, McDonald's, has pulled out of advertising on the station's Morning Show. SOHH.com contacted the fast-food giant regarding their support of the station and they issued this reply:

"Thank you for taking the time contact McDonald's. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to you regarding the recent events involving hosts from the Hot97 morning radio program in New York.

First, McDonald's does not support programs that discriminate or are insensitive to the plight of people suffering from devastating events. Starting immediately, McDonald's will indefinitely suspend advertising on the Hot97 morning show."

McDonald's also points out that Ronald McDonald House Charities, McDonald's Corporation and the McDonald's family around the world have donated more than two million dollars to the Tsunami relief efforts and that they "take these matters very seriously."

McDonald's, Sprint and other major advertisers of the station have been inundated with thousands of calls, emails and faxes since the airing of "Tsunami Song" - a parody of "We Are The World" that poked fun at the victims of the Southeast Asian tsunami that killed over 150,000 people and devastated the region. The song aired for four consecutive days on the Miss Jones In The Morning Show before the station finally responded under public pressure.

Earlier this week, Miss Jones and the crew were suspended indefinitely and the station issued an apology condemning the song and exonerating the station's advertisers from any affiliation with the debacle. There has been no response yet from other Hot97 advertisers including Sprint, Popeyes and Reebok as to whether they will pull advertising dollars out of the station.


sohh.com
 
 

[Larrabee]

Fuck Hot97

[Ozir]

Good news 

[Sikotic™]

It's getting huge. There was a big demonstration today with a congressman, some asian guy, leading it trying to get the whole morning show fired. It was even on my local news.

[Matrix Heart]

Hot 97's controversial song that mocked tsunami victims is claiming some victims of its own.

Show host Miss Jones and her entire morning team were indefinitely suspended Wednesday after a week of growing public outcry -- and after a number of high-profile advertisers began pulling their support from the station.

"What happened is morally and socially indefensible," Rick Cummings, president of Emmis Radio, which owns Hot 97, said yesterday in an statement. "All involved, myself included, are ashamed and deeply sorry."

At least three advertisers have abandoned the station. McDonald's Corp. suspended its advertising Monday. The tax services company Jackson Hewitt Inc. followed on Tuesday. Wednesday, Sprint announced that it would withdraw its advertising.

What began as a cruel joke about a natural disaster has turned into a catastrophe for Hot 97 (WQHT/97.1 FM). The song, which first aired Jan. 18, included slurs against Asians and jokes about floating bodies and orphaned children. It was set to the tune of the 1985 famine-relief song "We Are The World."

Despite Miss Jones' subsequent on-air apology, New York City councilmen and Asian advocacy groups called for the hosts' resignations. Councilman John Liu of Flushing called the song "reprehensible," and councilman James Gennaro of Fresh Meadows threatened to "go after" the station's advertisers.

"A suspension is the same thing as saying, 'We don't think these people ought to be fired,'" Gennaro said. "That's as big an insult as what the performers did when they sang the song."

Liu's office says it's planning a protest at 11 a.m. tomorrow outside Hot 97's offices in Manhattan. Liu is also complaining to the FCC that Emmis Radio should be fined.

The offending song aired the day after Hot 97's rival station, Power 105 (WWPR/105.1 FM), broadcast a new morning show with Star and Buc Wild, two shock-jocks who are challenging Hot 97's dominance in the New York market. Mayo says the song was not a response to their arrival. But the timing is difficult to ignore.

"It is two key players in the urban hip-hop radio market competing against each other to be the most outrageous," says Kai Yu, director of Asian Media Watch. "We want to make sure both companies don't try to outdo each other in creating a culture of hatred in New York."

[7even]

Good news. Fun or not, imagine some huge European Radio Station making fun of 9/11 victims.. talking about parachutes and all..

[Juronimo]

Fuck Hot97

[Caution2006]

Fuck Hot97

[white Boy]

fuckin idiots get what they deserve

[-CaliKid-]

fuckin idiots get what they deserve

yes they do

[AlerG]

that's some bullshit, peace.

[boycriedwolf619]

damn the heat is really comin down on them fast

[davida.b.]

If this leads to getting them taken off the air, I'll be happy.

[-Euthanasia-]

miss jones is still around?

[Caution2006]

haha fuck ms jones