Usually on the receiving end of public wrath, Harvey Norman’s chairman has joined the masses in expressing disapproval against shock-jock Alan Jones’ vitriolic slur about the cause of death of the Prime Minister’s father at a Liberal Party ‘do, recently. Mouthy Jones said John Gillard “died of shame” because of his daughter Julia’s “lies” at a Sydney Uni Liberal Club. Jones later apologised on his morning radio show, although the utterance of “I’m sorry” was notably absent from his four minute ramble. Harvey Norman pulled its advertising from Jones’ show on 2GB on October 01, announcing via Twitter: “The views expressed by Alan Jones are not supported by Harvey Norman. We do not condone his sentiments & have no adverts running on his show.” Harveys joined rival Bing Lee, Telstra, Hyundai and a slew of other households names (56 in all) who fled associaiton with the scandal ridden Alan Jones show. Mr Harvey admitted he felt he was “joining a lynch mob” by pulling the ads but said he felt he had no option, considering the potential backlash from consumers. However, Harvey is still a closet Jones fan admitting, “he shouldn’t have said what he said but should that stop the bloke from having a radio career?” he told The Telegraph. Howls from the public on Twitter following Jones’ comments continue, however. |
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| “This is not an apology. This is incoherent rambling from a senior Australian with Narcissistic Personality Disorder,” one Twitterer wrote.
“Alan Jones’ comments about PM and her father are a disgrace. Mortified to be in the same profession. What a vicious nasty old queen” another tweeted. However, in a separate PR gaffe, Jaycar CEO Gary Johnson expressed his support of his company sponsored team, the Canterbury Bulldogs, when their (unidentified) players made misogynistic comments about a Channel Nine reporter, even appearing to support them in a poorly thought out interview on radio this week. |
