America’s Coupon Mailer/Money in The Mail Ad Response
Many of you saw the Central Arizona Remodeling (C.A.R) advertisement that was run in the ‘Money In The Mail’ coupon mailer sent out to everyone in the area, and many of you responded! The following was submitted by a PI Member central to the actions. This is her account:
On Sunday, December 5th, Sue and Jim (not real names), were quietly enjoying their morning coffee and browsing the local coupon mailer (America’s Coupon Mailer) for the latest local deals. It was like any usual Sunday until they spotted an ad from a local flooring company, Central Arizona Remodeling (C.A.R.). The advertisement offered up to 50% off for locals unless they were Liberals or Progressives. The ad went on to state that Liberals and Progressives hated America. The ad also featured veiled profanity against our current President and as a qualifier to receive the discount, asked all Republicans and Independents to show their Voter Registration, CCW, or NRA membership card to prove that they are not someone who hates America. The couple, who were Navy Veterans with a combined service time of over 30 years were deeply insulted and outraged. Jim decided the best way to address this was to call the owner of the mailer and discuss why he found the ad offensive. The owner of the mailer stated that he felt this was freedom of speech and that the flooring company had every right to place the ad. He also stated that cancel culture and censorship is not something he supported. The civil conversation lasted 20 minutes without any apologies or regrets from the owner of the America’s Coupon Mailer. Knowing that this ad was not in the interest of the local community that claims to be “Everybody’s Hometown”, the couple went to work.
Sue and Jim posted the incident and a copy of the ad to the Prescott Indivisible Facebook Page. They asked members to come up with ideas of what could be done to address this through the membership. Membership hit the floor running with ideas of how to combat the hate displayed in the ad. Here is a list of what members did and the result of their efforts:
- Members in mass called the owner of America’s Coupon Mailer, lodged complaints, and asked to be removed from the mailing list.
- Members got on Yelp and Google and gave reviews that referred to the hateful ad from the flooring company.
- Members in mass contacted the Better Business Bureau and notified them of the advertisement and lodged a complaint.
- One member, who is also a Veteran, called the flooring company directly and let the owner know how much he loved the county and that he had served this great nation and asked the owner of the flooring company to stop running the hateful ad.
- One member contacted the Arizona State Attorney General with a complaint.
- One member contacted a flooring supplier that provided products to the flooring company and let them know about the ad.
- One member contacted the Yavapai Contractors Association and after a conversation with the President of that Organization, the President called the coupon mailer with her concerns and stated that she had a good conversation with him and he might even print a retraction in the mailer next month.
- The PI Communications Team created a Twitter Thread on Sunday and an Update Twitter Thread on Tuesday which has successfully reached an even broader audience.
Our efforts paid off! Eventually the proprietor of America’s Coupon Mailer decided he did not need to use his coupon book as a platform for hateful political ads. He drafted a retraction which should be displayed in next month’s coupon mailer and the statement is currently viewable on the America’s Coupon Mailer Facebook Page.
Thank you to everyone for exercising and showing what “FREEDOM OF SPEECH” can really accomplish to combat hate. Rock on Prescott Indivisible!-Rosemary Dixon