Comment on this story
Comment
Disney-backed streaming service Hulu said Wednesday it will begin accepting political ads to the same standards the company uses for its cable networks, opening the door to problematic ads on controversial topics after Democratic groups attacked the company for rejecting ads for abortion and guns.
In a statement, Hulu said that “after extensive review,” Disney decided to bring Hulu’s political advertising policy in line with the company’s sports and entertainment cable networks and streaming service ESPN Plus.
“Hulu will now accept candidates and run ads covering a wide range of political positions, but reserves the right to require edits” or other changes “in accordance with industry standards,” the statement said.
The statement did not specifically mention gun or abortion ads, but such ads have previously aired on other Disney-owned cable networks, such as ESPN.
Democrats, angered by the rejection of two ads this month, mounted a public pressure campaign on social media this week, asking supporters to denounce Hulu’s policy. The protests were a hot topic on Twitter on Tuesday, with multiple accounts publicly announcing that they planned to cancel their service unless Hulu changed its policy.
Mosaic Communications, a Democratic advertising firm, announced in a news release Tuesday that it will stop buying candidate ads with Hulu until the policy changes. Julie Norton, a partner at the firm, said Wednesday’s announcement appeared to resolve her concerns.
“It seems like they’re trying to do the right thing at this point,” she said. “We certainly applaud them for moving in the right direction.”
The Washington Post reported Monday that Hulu has a policy against airing content deemed controversial. Like other digital providers, it is not bound by the Communications Act of 1934, a law that requires television networks to give politicians equal access to the airwaves.
Hulu has changed its approach to candidate advertising in recent weeks following a similar backlash from Democratic candidates. Suraj Patel, a New York congressional candidate, has publicly protested the rejection of one of his ads, which mentions gun violence, abortion and climate change and shows images of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Hulu, which had a more permissive advertising policy on candidates than on issues, first allowed him to run the ad after replacing a reference to climate change and removing images of violence outside the Capitol.
Then, on Monday, after The Post published an article, Hulu told its campaign that the version of the ad the company initially rejected would be allowed to run. A person familiar with the decision at Hulu, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record, said Hulu decided to accept the once-rejected ad before Monday but did not tell Patel.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Governors Association attempted to buy co-op ads on abortion and guns with Hulu on July 15, along with identical placements on Disney-affiliated ABC affiliate in Philadelphia and cable sports channel of the company ESPN. Hulu’s ads never ran while others did.
“Hulu’s censorship of the truth is outrageous, insulting and another step down a dangerous path for our country,” the executive directors of the three commissions — Christy Roberts, Tim Persico and Noam Lee — said in a statement provided to The Post on Monday. “Voters have a right to know the facts about the MAGA Republican agenda on issues like abortion — and Hulu is doing the American people a huge disservice by blocking voters from learning the truth about the GOP’s record or denying these issues are even discussed.” “
Tracking firm Kantar Media forecasts that $7.8 billion will be spent on political advertising for the 2022 midterm election season, with about $1.2 billion going to overhead and connected TV spending, a category that includes ads delivered through streaming services and set-top boxes like Roku. Streaming spending, according to Kantar, is “the new darling of the political set.”
But streaming services have proven more difficult to negotiate for political buyers. Disney has told advertisers that political and alcohol ads will not be accepted on Disney Plus, a separate streaming service, when it launches an ad-supported version later this year. Netflix announced this month that it was developing an ad-supported version with Microsoft, though the company did not specify its advertising policies.
Add Comment