US home improvement chain Lowe's Tuesday defended its decision to pull advertising from reality TV show All-American Muslim amid charges that the company had given in to bigotry.
All-American Muslim, which airs on TLC, follows several Muslim families in and around the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan.
Dearborn is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States and its largest mosque.
The TLC program has been accused by one Florida group to be propaganda. But the decision by Lowe's sparked an outcry by defenders of the show.
Lowe's employed its Facebook page to defend itself and called All-American Muslim a "lightning rod" for "strong political and societal views."
Lowe's spokeswoman Karen Cobb said the company was one of "dozens" of companies to pull their advertising late last month. Names of other companies were not immediately available.
Laurie Goldberg, a TLC spokeswoman, declined to say how many companies have pulled their advertising from the show, which attracts about a million viewers per week.
"We stand behind the show and we're happy that it has strong advertising support," Goldberg said.
Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons said in a series of messages on Twitter defending the embattled reality TV show that he had bought up the remaining ad spots.
"Just purchased remaining spots for #allamericanmuslim for next week," Simmons said. "The show is now sold out! keep your money @lowes and we will keep ours."
A spokeswoman for Simmons said he had purchased two 30-second ads, but said Simmons had not decided what the content of those ads would be.
The Florida Family Association, a little-known group that has campaigned against the show, has branded All-American Muslim "propaganda" that is "clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many Muslims who are advancing Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia law."
But US Representative Keith Ellison, who is Muslim, said in a statement that Lowe's had "chosen to uphold the beliefs of a fringe hate group" and given in to intolerance.
"Corporate America needs to take a stand against these anti-Muslim fringe groups and stand up for what is right because this is what it means to be an American," he said.
Reuters
