Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 17:15:19 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert 05.02.97 GLAADALERT May 2, 1997 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation URGENT ACTION NEEDED: SPECIAL GLAADALERT Ellen Advertisers Need Your Input! Now that Ellen Morgan has come out, the advertisers who chose to stand with ABC and Touchstone and sponsor the groundbreaking episode need to hear from those of us who appreciate their support. Already, anti-gay radical religious groups such as the American Family Association are targeting the companies for attack. The critically acclaimed episode received a higher audience share than any other ABC show for the entire season, with a 23.4 Neilson rating and 35 percent of Americans watching. National advertisers included: Bayer Corporation (One-A-Day vitamins and Femstat 3), Burlington Coat Factory, News America Publishing , Inc. (FOX), Slimfast Foods Company, Sony Corporation of America (Columbia and Tri-Star), Time Warner, Inc. (HBO, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros.), Unilever United States, Inc, (Calvin Klein), Universal Pictures, Viacom International, Inc. (Paramount), Volkswagen of America and Warner-Lambert (Listerine, Neosporin, Sudafed, Trident gum). One exceptional local advertiser who stood apart from its more anti-gay parent company was Armory Garage, the Chrysler dealer in Albany, New York. Local and regional advertisers can be found on the GLAAD Web site (www.glaad.org), and everyone is encouraged to e-mail us at glaad@glaad.org or call at 1-800-GAY-MEDIA with information on areas for which we have not yet provided complete listings. Please thank each advertiser who chose to advertise both nationally and in your local markets for recognizing that lesbians and gay men should not be cropped out of television's American family portrait. Also, remember to tell Wendy's, Chrysler, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson and J.C. Penny's that by not supporting diversity, they do a disservice to all Americans. Contact: … Helge H. Wehneier, President, Bayer Corporation, 500 Grant St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219, phone: 412.394.5500, fax: 412.394.5586, e-mail: nora.kohnfelder.b@bayer.com; WWW: www.bayer-ag.de/; … Monroe G. Milstein, Chairman, Burlington Coat Factory, 1830 Rte. 130 N., Burlington, NJ 08016, phone: 609.387.7800, fax: 609.387.7071; e-mail: customer.relations@coat.com, WWW: www.coat.com; … Rupert Murdoch, Chairman, News America Publishing, Inc., 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, phone: 212.852.7000, fax: 212.852.7145; … S. Daniel Abraham, Chairman, Slimfast Foods Company, 777 S. Flager Dr., Ste. 1400, West Palm Beach, FL 33401, phone: 407.833.9920, fax: 407.822.2876; … Carl Yankowski, President, Sony Corporation of America, 1 Sony Dr., Park Ridge, NJ 07656, phone: 201.930.1000, fax: 201.358.4060; … Gerald Levin, Chairman, Time Warner, Inc., 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019, phone: 212.484.8000, fax: 212.275.3970; … Richard A. Goldstein, President, Unilever United States, Inc., 390 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022, phone: 800.598.1223, fax: 212.906.4411, e-mail: corporate.relations@unilever.com, WWW: www.unilever.com; … Universal Pictures, 100 Universal City Plaza, CA 91608, fax: 818.733.0152, email: zmi@zminteractive.com; … Sumner M. Redstone, Chairman, Viacom International, Inc., 1515 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, phone: 212.258.6000, fax: 212.258.6354, e-mail: inbox@viacom.com, WWW: www.viacom.com/; … Clive Warrilow, President, Volkswagen of America, P.O. Box 3951, Troy, MI 48007, phone: 800.822.8987, fax: 810.340.5025; … Armory Garage, 926 Central Avenue, Albany, NY 12205, phone: 518.482.3381, e-mail: armory@globalone.net; WWW: www.global2000.net/armory/; Unsupportive Companies … Dave Thomas, CEO, Wendy's, 4288 W. Dublin Granville Rd., Dublin, OH 43017; … Robert J. Easton, Chairperson, Chrysler Corporation, 1000 Chrysler Drive, Auburn Hills, MI 48326, phone: 800.992.1997; … John F. Smith, Chairperson, General Motors Corporation, 3044 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit, MI 48202, phone: 313.556.5000, fax: 313.556.1988; … Ralph S. Larsen, Chairperson, Johnson & Johnson, One J & J Plaza, New Brunswick, NJ 09833, phone: 800.635.6789, fax: 908.214.0332, WWW: http//www.jnj.com/feedback.html; … William Howell, Chair, JC Penney Company, Inc., PO Box 10001, Dallas, TX 75301, phone: 214.431.1000, fax: 214.431.1977, email: webmaster@jcpenney.com. The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. GLAAD is the lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national lesbian and gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation as a means of challenging all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@glaad.org or by phone at 213.658.6775 (Los Angeles), 212.807.1700 (New York), 202.986.1360 (Washington, DC) or 415.861.2244 (San Francisco). Report defamation in the media by calling GLAAD's Toll-Free AlertLine! 1-800-GAY-MEDIA (1-800-429-6334) Visit GLAAD's Web Site at http://www.glaad.org "GLAADAlert," "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. 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