Disney-owned streaming service, Hulu, refused to run Democrats’ far-left ads, leaving Democratic campaign strategists enraged.
Reportedly, Democrats tried to run pro-abortion, anti-gun, and January 6 attack ads on the streaming company.
Democrats Angry About Hulu Rejecting Their Ads
On July 15, the Democratic Governors Association, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee tried to purchase ad time on Hulu.
The ads were related to Republicans’ attempts to restrict abortion access and promote guns, along with January 6 chaos. January 6, 2021 led to a formal congressional investigation against former President Donald Trump.
However, Hulu refused to run these ads.
So, the executive directors of three committees, Tim Persico, Christie Roberts, and Noam Lee, released a joint statement, calling “Hulu’s censorship of facts” “outrageous.”
According to the statement, Hulu is doing a “disservice” to Americans by protecting “MAGA Republicans.”
BREAKING: @Hulu is REJECTING our ads calling out GOP attacks on abortion access and gun safety. Their shady policies amount to outrageous political censorship.
Americans deserve to know the truth about these issues, and Hulu has no right to block it. https://t.co/xEfpgASoBU
— Senate Democrats (@dscc) July 25, 2022
Similarly, a progressive congressional candidate from New York, Suraj Patel, wrote a letter to Hulu’s president, Joe Early, and Disney CEO Bob Chapek.
He complained that a Hulu representative asserted the ad content was too “sensitive,” which goes against the “unwritten Hulu policy.” Patel’s content mentioned abortion, guns, and January 6 in a single advertisement.
According to Patel, all of these messages are crucial for his campaign; so this ban on “mobilization messaging” negatively impacts democracy in the country.
Likewise, Patel suggested he was allowed to run the modified version of the ad when he removed the footage of the January 6 attacks on the Capitol.
As young people do not watch cable TV, this is the reason politicians have to rely on streaming platforms like Hulu to run these types of campaign ads, Patel added.
An anonymous official of Hulu told the Washington Post the company does not reveal its ad policies publicly; however, it avoids taking a position on such controversial issues, which can create further bifurcation in the country.
The Democrats made this ad calling out extremist Republicans and @hulu won’t air it!
Please watch & RT the ad to help it reach more eyeballs.
And #CancelHulu. pic.twitter.com/j0wly8qxBm
— Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 (@NickKnudsenUS) July 26, 2022
Reportedly, Democratic strategists tried to contact Hulu multiple times after getting their ads rejected, but the streaming service denied their calls and emails.
After some time, Democrats received an email from Hulu mentioning their ads would be accepted. However, Hulu apologized later for the email being sent by mistake.
Disney Avoiding Politics After Learning Important Lesson
As Hulu is avoiding taking a political position on highly partisan issues like abortion and gun regulations, it seems Disney learned its lesson from its confrontation with the Florida governor earlier this year.
In April, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill to take away the special status of Disney after the company spoke against a gender-related bill in Florida under the pressure from woke employees.
This is not the first time Democrats are venting their anger at streaming services for refusing their ads.
During the 2020 election cycle, Democrats’ anti-police ads were rejected by Hulu, Google, and Verizon when two liberal groups, Priorities USA Action and the Color of Change PAC, tried to campaign on George Floyd’s murder.
This article appeared in The State Today and has been published here with permission.
