I Agree with Savage. If you peaple had any brains you would to.while listening to the show it sounds like he has plenty of advertising to me. I think it sad that companys get scared away from advertising from great shows like the savage nation because of stupid little whimpy peaple like you guys. Have a nice day :)

I also spoke with John Hanson who gave me the same message about public service announcements. I agree with Mike that a retraction would be appropriate here.

I called John Hanson to complain and GOT THROUGH and spoke with him. Hanson insists that any USO spots running on the Savage show are Public Service Announcements, and that their placement on the show is beyond the USO's control (true of all PSAs). The fact that they're running PSAs on the Savage show indicates the show is losing advertisers.

Hanson said the USO only pays for print ads that thank celebrities for their volunteerism.

If this is correct -- and I hope it is -- please demonstrate your sense of fairness by issuing a retraction via your e-mail list. I think you would score points for honesty with this unusually forthright gesture, and it would serve your efforts greatly in the long run.

Mike

Here's GEICO's reply to me. I'm not sure if they really did terminate all of their advertising on his show several years ago. Can anyone confirm this?

From GEICO:
> Thank you for sharing your concerns with GEICO about
> the Michael Savage Show.
>
> GEICO terminated all of its advertising on the show
> several years ago. Our media buying agency has been
> instructed that no GEICO advertisements may appear
> on this program.
>
> Thank you for comments.

Thank you for the most recent update and thank you for your efforts.

You might be happy to know John Hanson’s voicemail box is full, presumably from people contacting him regarding this issue (we can only hope).

I am a volunteer at our USO here in Palm Springs, California (gateway to 29 Palms, one of the largest bases in the country). I am disheartened that we (the USO) would promote ourselves on this type of programming. However, knowing how the USO operates, I am guessing that the promotional spots are some kind of trade or donation. If this is the case, it could very well be the donation came through a third party. The point is that I doubt this is a direct pay-for-advertising contract and it could be a challenge for the USO to get out of. That said, the bigger picture is the USO MUST find a way out and they must be better at scrutinizing in-kind donations or the limitations of certain in-kind donations.

Not everything is as black and white as it may seem but I fear, without knowing how this advertising came to be and portraying it in a very black and white manner, it could undermine financial support for the USO. That would really suck, especially considering how independent the USO is and how much the USO helps our troops.

Thank you—you guys are really good and provide a great service for an average guy like me!