The Conscious Advertising Network (CAN) has accused Tory MPs of a smear campaign after almost 50 parliamentarians sent a letter to Rishi Sunak urging the prime minister to review the culture department‘s links to the organisation.
Sunak has been asked to intervene due to the group’s alleged links to pressure group Stop Funding Hate, which calls on household brands to boycott right-wing media outlets such as the Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and GB News.
CAN – which strongly denies any ongoing links with Stop Funding Hate – has described the letter as “a smear campaign which misrepresents us, our people and our mission”.
While the full list of MPs has not been made public, the 46 senior conservative backbenchers – known to include ex-PM Liz Truss and former home secretary Dame Priti Patel – have written a letter warning the prime minister that the group’s action was having a “chilling effect” on free speech.
The letter claims that CAN “bullies companies into boycotting news outlets”, and refers to the “swift action” that was taken in preventing banks’ ensuring that banks can no longer discriminate against individuals on the basis of their political views, suggesting the PM do the same here.
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The letter reads: “As more and more companies feel that they have no choice but to bend the knee to CAN activists, we will be left with a media that does not reflect the diversity of views of modern Britain.
“Worryingly, as part of its online advertising consultation, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is currently working alongside CAN and giving ‘consideration’ to its initiatives.
“We urge the Government to ensure that its politically motivated activists are kept well away from Government policy,” the letter adds before explicitly naming the “five main ad agencies” – WPP, Publicis, Dentsu, Omnicom and the Interpublic Group – who have ‘opted-out’ of working with certain Ofcom-regulated TV channels.
The letter describes this move as one which leads to “a two-tiered society, where ad agencies and brands are actively discriminating between consumers on the basis of their political views”.
In response, CAN – which has previously spoken out to clarify it has no outgoing links with the pressure group, and describes itself as a “non-partisan, non-political network” which calls for advertisers to “break the economic link between advertising and harmful content which funds terrorism, fraud and harm to children” – described the latest news as a “smear campaign”.
It told Marketing Beat that members sign up voluntarily because they do not want to be funding harm, and because of the “strong commercial benefits that come with more efficient and effective advertising across a diverse set of media”.
“This is a smear campaign which misrepresents us, our people and our mission. Plus, we have yet to see a full list of the MPs who have signed the letter,” CAN said.
“The proposal for state intervention in the advertising industry called for in this letter is anti-freedom and anti- choice. Advertisers should be allowed to make commercial decisions that grow their brands, and by extension, the British economy.
“This means that hateful content and disinformation, wherever it is directed, is not commercially attractive for many. Attempts to conflate the right to a bank account with some kind of right to advertising revenue is bizarre. Advertising revenue is a commercial privilege and not a right.”
Addressing the MPs concern surrounding CAN’s role alongside DCMS as part of the government’s online advertising consultation, it added: “CAN’s work and manifestos actively support the areas laid out by the government’s online safety bill.
“These MPs seem to be seeking to undermine something which will protect children and improve protection for Britons on the tech platforms.”
The MP letter follows the news that car marker Kia pulling its advertising from GB News after Stop Funding Hate pointed out the news outlet was showcasing them.
It’s great to see that @Kia has such strong policies on equality: https://t.co/XlNgpYubJN
But hard to see how that fits with the divisive fearmongering pushed out by GB News? pic.twitter.com/2Len003Jlr
— Stop Funding Hate (@StopFundingHate) August 13, 2023
In response, the south Korean manufacturer announced that adverts broadcasted on the right-wing news channel was not “planned or approved” by them.
It stated that the advert was “shown due to a mistake by the broadcaster”, adding: “They have apologised and taken action to ensure it doesn’t happen again”.
Marketing Beat has contacted Kia for comment.
