Bloomington, IL-based State Farm, whose lead agency is DDB Chicago, has joined other Samantha Bee advertiser, Autotrader and have decided to suspend their sponsorship of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee after the host called Ivanka Trump a “feckless c—” on the show Wednesday night.
“As part of our overall advertising with TBS, our ad did appear on Wednesday. We have asked TBS to suspend our advertising in the program and are reviewing any future placements. We constantly review programs to ensure alignment to our programming guidelines and brand values,” a spokeswoman for State Farm told Reel360.
Bee apologized to Ivanka Trump and to her viewers for the remarks shortly after Autotrader announced its decision, calling her use of the expletive “inappropriate and inexcusable”:
“Thank you to those who reached out regarding our sponsorship of ‘Full Frontal,’” Autotrader said via their official Twitter account Thursday. “The comments expressed by Samantha Bee were offensive and unacceptable and do not reflect the views of our company. As a result, we have suspended our sponsorship of ‘Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.’”
Bee made her divisive remarks about Ivanka Trump during her opening monologue Wednesday, as part of her criticism of the first daughter for not doing more about the president’s immigration policies. “Let me just say, one mother to another, do something about your dad’s immigration practices you feckless c—t!” Bee said.
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“He listens to you. Put on something tight and low cut and tell your father to f-king stop it. Tell him it was an Obama thing and see how it goes,” she continued.
The comedian faced backlash for the comment, and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the statement was “vile and vicious.”
But not every advertiser on Bee’s show decided to leave.
“As a national brand, our ads run on national broadcast, cable, digital, social, outdoor media, and just about everywhere in-between,” Riverwoods, IL-based Discover Card said in a statement on Twitter Thursday. “Our media buys consistently change and reflect the diverse content and audiences we serve. Editorial direction and content are created by the individual program.”
TBS echoed Bee’s statement with an apology: “Samantha Bee has taken the right action in apologizing for the vile and inappropriate language she used about Ivanka Trump last night. Those words should not have been aired. It was our mistake too, and we regret it.”
