Contacting Companies
Here are some tips for contacting brands to ask them to stop advertising in the Daily Mail.
- Keep your message as polite as possible – companies are more likely to respond to courteous messages.
- Make sure the company you’re contacting is advertising in the Daily Mail– use our ethical advertisers list to make sure they’ve not already given a positive response.
- Make it personal – we’ve found that companies are more likely to respond if you give them a bit of background on why you’re asking them to change their advertising practices. For example, Lego announced they would end their relationship with the Daily Mail after a lovely message from Bob Jones:
Dear Lego
I love Lego. My 6 year old son loves Lego…All he wants for Christmas is Lego. But I’m concerned. For a few years now you have done free giveaways in the Daily Mail newspaper. I’ve paid for a copy to get the free Lego pack.
But I’m afraid to say I can no longer do it. Lately their headlines have gone beyond offering a right wing opinion. Headlines that do nothing but create distrust of foreigners, blame immigrants for everything, and as of yesterday, are now having a go at top judges in the U.K. for being gay while making a legal judgment.
Lego, to me, has always been an inclusive product. Breaking barriers between gender, building children’s imagination and confidence to do their own thing. As crap as I feel telling my son he can’t have the free Lego kit that he sees on the front of the paper in the store, I have explained to him that the paper it is attached to is the sort of paper that tells lies about people, like some of his friends from school. Even my six year old understands that what they print is wrong.
I’m sure I’m not the only person with this opinion. And I’m sure many people would like to know if you intend to keep supporting this publication in the future.
Thanks
4. Use evidence – these are some articles and statements you can link to:
- After the Sun published an article comparing refugees to cockroaches in 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Chief published a statement on the dangers of how the UK media portrays minorities.
- Hate crime experts have warned the hate in the media is contributing the rise in hate crime that in Britain over the past year.
- The Council of Europe warned in 2016 that the Sun and Daily Mail were fuelling prejudice in the UK.
5. Use examples – back up your argument by linking to or quoting from some of the articles that the Mail has published
- This article in the Daily Mail used the phrase “openly gay” to attack one of the judges taking the government to court over Brexit.
- “Please don’t pretend this is the new normal” headline in the Daily Mail when discussing gay adoption.
6. Focus your efforts – If you’d like to focus on the most common advertisers, use our research to guide you.
7. Share their response – if the company you contact gets back to you, please let us know. You can use this form or the contact details below.
If you have any other questions, please just get in touch. Send us a Facebook message, tweet us or email info@stopfundinghate.info.