Brands pull advertising from Daily Mail over homophobic Tom Daley column

A number of brands have announced they will stop advertising with the Daily Mail after it published a homophobic article blasting Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black’s decision to start a family.

Richard Littlejohn wrote an op-ed in which he asked readers to “pass the sick bag” and claimed the couple’s baby announcement this week was a “publicity stunt”. He also claimed that gay parenting is “not normal”.

The Daily Mail article was condemned by GLAAD yesterday (February 16) who called on advertisers to pull their ads from the Daily Mail for publishing the column, the Huffington Post reports. 

In a blog post, GLAAD’s vice president of programs Zeke Strokes said: “This hateful discourse should never be normalised or sanctioned by businesses who expect LGBTQ people and our allies to use their products and services.

“We call on these companies to take a stand against the outdated arguments and vile homophobia and transphobia expressed in this column, and put their money where their mouths are by pulling their ads, and supporting the LGBTQ people.” 

Meanwhile, campaign group Stop Funding Hate, which points attention to brands that advertise next to divisive content in the Daily Mail, called out several companies that advertised online or in the print edition of the Daily Mail on the day the op-ed was published. 

London’s Southbank Centre announced on Twitter that they had axed their partnership with the newspaper: “Southbank Centre reaches out to audiences through wide-ranging online and offline media titles, across the political spectrum.

“We monitor the environment in which our advertising appears, to ensure the values of a publication are compatible with our own. We have no future plans to advertise within the Daily Mail.” 

Southbank Centre reaches out to audiences through wide-ranging online and offline media titles, across the political spectrum. 1/2

— Southbank Centre (@southbankcentre) February 16, 2018

We monitor the environment in which our advertising appears, to ensure the values of a publication are compatible with our own. We have no future plans to advertise within the Daily Mail. 2/2

— Southbank Centre (@southbankcentre) February 16, 2018

Meanwhile, Center Parcs revealed they had “ceased advertising” with the Daily Mail over the article. A statement from the holiday park operator said: “We take where we advertise very seriously and have a number of steps to prevent our advertising from appearing alongside inappropriate content.” 

“We felt this placement was completely unacceptable and have therefore ceased advertising with the Daily Mail with immediate effect. We apologise for any offence this may have caused.” 

1/2 We take where we advertise very seriously and have a number of steps to prevent our advertising from appearing alongside inappropriate content. We felt this placement was completely unacceptable and therefore ceased advertising with the Daily Mail with immediate effect.

— Center Parcs UK (@CenterParcsUK) February 16, 2018

Quorn Foods UK, whose ad appeared online alongside Littlejohn’s op-ed, confirmed their ad had been removed at their request, and car company Honda tweeted that they were “investigating” the issue after their ad appeared alongside the article.