Lowe's pulls ads from "All-American Muslim" showCommercials for home-improvement retailers have inexplicably become the latest battleground in the culture wars. After objections from a conservative Christian group, Lowe's has reportedly pulled its advertising from The Learning Channel's "All-American Muslim" television show.
The Tampa-based Florida Family Association has labeled the show "propaganda" that presents a "clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values." On its website, the group claims that 65 different brands have pulled their advertising from the show in response to emails from its supporters. That number could not be verified.
On Monday, The Associated Press cited a statement from Lowe's that called the show a "lightning rod" and acknowledged yanking its ads. "We believe it is best to respectfully defer to communities, individuals and groups to discuss and consider such issues of importance," the quote read, in part. Lowe's did not respond to requests for comment from msnbc.com.
Besides Lowe's, the FFA claimed that rival home-improvement brand The Home Depot will no longer run commercials during the show. But Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes said the company had never planned to run ads during "All-American Muslim."
"Whenever we have advertising run on a brand-new show, it's our process, it's our policy, that we review it before it runs," he said. Of the one commercial that did run and drew ire from the FFA, Holmes said, "TLC ran that without our knowledge." TLC is owned by Discovery Communications Inc
It's not clear if the ad controversy is hurting the show, which follows the lives of five Muslim families living in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Mich. TLC spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg said via email that the program has "strong advertising support." According to Nielsen, the show averages 1.2 million viewers per Sunday night episode.
The FFA describes itself as an organization that educates "people on what they can do to defend, protect and promote traditional, biblical values." It claims thousands of supporters