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Arts and Culture

Russell Simmons v. Lowe’s in ‘All-American Muslim’ Ad Battle

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Posted on Dec 13, 2011
Wikimedia Commons / Brett Weinstein (CC-BY-SA)

Hip-hop impresario and yogaphile Russell Simmons is publicly shaming Lowe’s with some help from his amassed fortune after the home-improvement megastore pulled its ads from the “All-American Muslim” reality show. 

Simmons first went after Lowe’s in Entertainment Weekly on Saturday, warning the chain, “I don’t want to take my time and start a boycott—don’t make me do that.” Lowe’s made a feeble attempt at an apology on Monday, but that apparently wasn’t enough for the Def Jam magnate, who decided that same day to put his money to work by buying the advertising spots himself. —KA

NYDailyNews.com:

“Just purchased remaining spots for #allamericanmuslim for next week The show is now sold out!” he tweeted Monday. “keep your money @lowes and we will keep ours.”

Simmons said he planned to use the purchased air-time to advertise his prepaid Visa RushCard.

Lowe’s issued a statement earlier this week announcing their withdrawal, saying that the “program raised concerns, complaints or issues from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum” after the Florida Family Association lambasted the show as propaganda for the “threat of jihad.”

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By omop, December 17, 2011 at 2:25 pm Link to this comment

One wonders if instead of American-Muslim it were American-Jew what
would have happened.

Land of the free and home of the brave indeed.

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By GoyToy, December 15, 2011 at 9:48 am Link to this comment

Just sick and tired of all this bigotry, stupidity and lies.

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By BrilliantBill, December 14, 2011 at 4:44 pm Link to this comment

The ninnies are at it again—all victims of manipulation by “Christian” hate.

If you’re going to avoid Lowes, also avoid Toyota and Kellogs and Wal-Mart and 50 or so other sellers who dropped their advertising because of the hate message.

Pay attention, folks. Stop being manipulated.

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By Wishingforsanity, December 14, 2011 at 8:38 am Link to this comment

Well done sir, well done!

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By Carl Quinlan, December 14, 2011 at 7:44 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I’ve been boycotting Lowes for years.

They sell shoddy merchandise, and the subcontractors they employ to install the shoddy merchandise are incompetent cheats. Then Lowes refuses to remedy the situation.

I wouldn’t buy a roll of scotch tape from Lowes. They’re rotten from the top down. We bought a toilet; the young lady who assisted us with our purchase told us to fill out a form praising her to her manager. She was helpful, so we did. When we returned, she said her manager never informed her of the form. When we returned again, she’d resigned. While she was assisting us, she tried to steer us away from one subcontractor who’d received numerous complaints. The other subcontractor we picked did an even worse job.

Lowes is rotten from the top, and the rot trickles down to individual store managers. The young lady who was so helpful to us was not happy in her job, and soon left. The remaining employees don’t care about customers or the crap merchandise on display.

I wasn’t surprised when I read about this latest incident. Home Depot, Lowes, all the big box stores are rotten. Support small, local business. Don’t wait for Russell Simmons to tell you what to do.

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By MaxFrisson, December 14, 2011 at 6:04 am Link to this comment

More likely Simmons used the CC spot because it was already produced and approved and could go in the schedule at once. TV spots do not just pop-up overnight.

Really admire how Russell Simmons has used his success to bring so many positive actions forth.

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Robespierre115's avatar

By Robespierre115, December 13, 2011 at 5:16 pm Link to this comment

It’s a double-edged move: What Lowes did was disgusting and idiotic, but instead of using the airtime to promote something worthwhile (a good cause maybe?), Simmons of course uses it to advertise his credit card.

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