MyPillow Can Avoid Advertising on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' with Some of These Alternatives

By now, you've probably heard about MyPillow, and the brand's big spend on Fox News, and specifically with Tucker Carlson Tonight. From Jan. 1-Aug. 15, 2019, MyPillow spent an estimated $77.07 million on TV advertising according to iSpot.tv, always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Of that total, 57.9% ($44.6 million) was spent with Fox News -- and of that amount, 62.75% ($27,994,831) went toward Tucker Carlson Tonight.

Contacted by the New York Times this week for a story about Carlson continuing to lose advertisers (though notably, not his company's ad dollars), MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell responded:

“When it comes to national cable news programs, you just never know what someone is going to say. If I pulled my advertising every time a host on any network said something I or others didn’t agree with, there would be no place to advertise.”

On the contrary, there are still plenty of places to advertise, on cable news or other shows and networks.

While a large portion of MyPillow's TV ad dollars are put toward Carlson and Fox News programming (much of it has proven to be controversial at one point or another), plenty more doesn't. Of the remaining spend for 2019, 12.8% went toward the CW, 6% toward CBS Sports, 5.2% to FX and 1.8% to Discovery Channel (with another 16.3% spent against other networks).

MyPillow already spends a significant amount on non-Fox News shows like Hot Bench (CBS), Mike & Molly (FX and CW), Family Feud (Game Show Network and CW), BlancPain GT World Challenge (CBS Sports) and Madam Secretary (CBS), among others. It could find a similar audience looking at those programs while moving away from Fox News and Carlson. Same goes for other programs like FXM Presents, Major Crimes (TNT) and syndicated episodes of How I Met Your Mother -- all shows he's spent at least an estimated $500,000 advertising with since Jan. 1.

No, you can't control everything network personalities say, but you can control where TV ad dollars are spent regarding those same remarks. Lindell has options other than Carlson and Fox News. But maybe he/the company just doesn't want to look elsewhere (as his own personal views would seem to reinforce).