Over the weekend, Center Parcs became the latest advertiser to turn its back on the Daily Mail after consumers complained about its ads appearing alongside a Richard Littlejohn article that has been branded homophobic.
Another advertiser, the Southbank Centre, also came under pressure from consumers and confirmed it now has no future plans to advertise with the Daily Mail. These announcements mark the latest milestones for the Stop Funding Hate movement which urges brands to reconsider advertising alongside what it calls the "divisive hate campaigns" of media outlets such as the Daily Mail.
Although both brands have received a lot of public support (and more publicity than their ads would surely ever have achieved), not everybody is happy. Twitter user 'Socialists Are Morons' (probably not their real name) was fairly typical of the critics, announcing their decision to cancel an improbable number of annual trips to Center Parcs.
Another unimpressed tweeter was quick to reach for the overused "virtue signalling" card, posting: "I despise corporate virtue signaling being used to suppress freedom of expression. Centre Parcs have got this one badly wrong and they will never see another penny of my money."
MEP Steven Woolfe was another one claiming he would cancel a Center Parcs holiday over the issue and accusing the company of "virtue signalling" (again) and "damaging freedom of speech".
Freedom of Expression
To suggest Center Parcs is trying to "suppress freedom of expression" or damage "freedom of speech" is patently ridiculous. Center Parcs is a business and is perfectly entitled to choose where its ads appear and has no moral or ethical obligation to fund anybody's journalism, especially if appearing alongside that journalism becomes a PR problem for its brand.
Similarly, the Daily Mail is a business and remains free to keep publishing Littlejohn's articles and whatever other opinions it thinks it can sell for as long as it makes money from them. While well-organised public pressure from the Stop Funding Hate campaign may present advertisers with added considerations when planning their spend, they all remain free to advertise with the Mail or any other outlet if they so choose and if they think the benefits outweigh the downsides.
This is about business, not freedom of expression or the protection of freedom of speech. As long as the Mail thinks there is a lucrative market for Littlejohn's writing, he will no doubt continue to write for the paper. But if they decide he's no longer worth his sizeable salary, he won't. But even then he would still be free to express his opinions elsewhere and at no point would Center Parcs or any other business have suppressed anybody's freedom of expression.
