Glenn Beck Boycott Continues; Traffic Crashes “Color of Change” Server

As we’ve reported a couple of times a number of advertisers, including Walmart, CVS and Best Buy, have pulled their ads from Glenn Beck’s Fox News program, joining a group of more than 30 following a campaign by ColorofChange.org after Beck’s ‘Obama is racist’ comments. While the efficacy of this program remains in question, it is worth noting that the the Color of Change website is currently down. Is this a result of great publicity or a nefarious cyberattack?

More advertisers have joined the Glenn Beck boycott in the last day, but as we’ve made the point that the boycott has little to no negative impact on the program: ratings for the controversial show have never been higher, and the advertisers who are “boycotting” the show have only moved their ads to other Fox programs.

In fact, some believe that the boycott has backfired due to the sudden rise of grassroots groups defending Glenn Beck on line. The Examiner reports:

An extemporaneous, nationwide movement is rapidly taking shape to support Beck.  Facebook groups, Web sites, home-grown e-mail blasts, viral marketing and individual telephone call list campaigns have appeared in record numbers supporting Beck.

Johnny Simpson, of Digital Journal.com reports that the backlash against the boycott “has cost GEICO Insurance and Sargento Foods a total of 12,500 [Beck supporting] customers,” showing enormous support for the growing media personality.

As of 12 Noon today, August 24th, the Color of Change website is giving a “503 Service Unavailable” error message. Could the down site be a result of some nefarious attacks by Glenn Beck supporters? Or just a result of fans of the site eager to show there support of the boycott? Too soon to tell.

Until the advertisers boycott’s include the Fox News network, it’s unlikely that the Beck-specific one will have any consequence on the show itself. Except of course the increased notoriety and ratings that have come with the boycott.

Updated: Color of Change publicist Brandon Hatler claims that the site has experienced technical problems as a result of the incredibly high volume of traffic.

share this post

filed under