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Ad Feedback - Controversial Ad

cssobx
Local Performer

I have just started hearing ads from Mike Lindell on your platform....therefore I will be removing Pandora from all of my devices and choose another platform. I will also share this information with my social media followers. To say it is a poor choice to allow his ads on Pandora is an understatement!  Allowing a conspiracy theorist to advertise with you just shows where your support is and I will be sure to share this with my social media followers! 

Please don't respond with "Pandora does not represent an endorsement of any kind on our part. We realize the prominent placement of many of our ads may give the impression that Pandora somehow endorses the product, issue, candidate, etc. but we do not." because that excuse is almost as bad as allowing his advertisements!

Wake up Pandora!

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1 Solution

Accepted Solutions

AdamPandora
Moderator
Moderator

@cssobx We always welcome input from our listeners - on any and every topic.

Perhaps the best place to start is to tell you that, like virtually all media outlets, the advertising content on Pandora does not represent an endorsement of any kind on our part, no matter how frequently ads might appear.

We recognize that certain material is sensitive ground, so we do our best to preserve the listening experience. All of our ads are thoughtfully vetted by folks across various teams at Pandora, to ensure they are free from speech or content that is hateful, illegal, false, misleading, fraudulent, inaccurate or unfair. Only ads that meet these guidelines will be run.

That being said, Pandora incurs substantial costs in licensing and streaming for every song it streams. In order to provide this service free to listeners, we need to generate enough advertising revenue to cover our costs.

Rest assured, though, that your voice has been heard. I've noted your thoughts about this campaign for our advertising team to consider.

Thanks again for taking time out of your day to write to us. We really appreciate hearing from you.

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56 Replies

AdamPandora
Moderator
Moderator

@cssobx We always welcome input from our listeners - on any and every topic.

Perhaps the best place to start is to tell you that, like virtually all media outlets, the advertising content on Pandora does not represent an endorsement of any kind on our part, no matter how frequently ads might appear.

We recognize that certain material is sensitive ground, so we do our best to preserve the listening experience. All of our ads are thoughtfully vetted by folks across various teams at Pandora, to ensure they are free from speech or content that is hateful, illegal, false, misleading, fraudulent, inaccurate or unfair. Only ads that meet these guidelines will be run.

That being said, Pandora incurs substantial costs in licensing and streaming for every song it streams. In order to provide this service free to listeners, we need to generate enough advertising revenue to cover our costs.

Rest assured, though, that your voice has been heard. I've noted your thoughts about this campaign for our advertising team to consider.

Thanks again for taking time out of your day to write to us. We really appreciate hearing from you.

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RogueTraveller
Local Performer

Came to the Community to look for this very issue. You take My Pillow money, you won't get mine. Will go to Amazon Prime Music. Tested it out last week and it works great! Laters. 

aevbfly
Local Performer

Mike Lindel and his My Pillow ads make me want to puke. I doubt Pandora is taking his ad money to sicken me enough to subscribe but it might happen!

lcoolen
Local Performer

The Tide Pods ad where a (clearly) white woman is "teaching" a (clearly) Black woman about the amount of water in her generic laundry detergent is Very Offensive.

sbrad61
Local Performer

Keep Biden ads, get rid of the Pillow Guy bull**ahem**. 

 

Vanessapelli
Local Performer

I have been listening to Pandora for 15+ years and seriously considering never listening again because of the repetitive ads that are triggering and upsetting.  There is one that constantly plays to me about being a drug addict and getting help, my first husband died of a drug overdose and I am not a drug user and I just simply can’t stand hearing it anymore another one that constantly plays is about adoption if you are pregnant in crisis I have three kids and would never choose adoption or abortion and this ad is so triggering and upsetting to me please stop. I also am constantly berated by the advertisements for gambling especially sports betting.  I am not a gambler and it is just so repulsive to me about how often it is being pushed on people now that it is legal in some states. Please stop.   Another ad that plays nonstop is ovulation tests and how to conceive I have never had a problem conceiving a child.   Please stop. 

AdamPandora
Moderator
Moderator

@Vanessapelli Thank you for your feedback regarding both of those advertisements.

I have a couple of suggestions which you might find helpful. First, you might want to restrict Pandora from playing songs with explicit content. When you do that, you not only remove songs with explicit lyrical content, you also remove some ads that are not intended for people who have demonstrated an aversion to explicit content. As a result, this option may remove some advertisements that might offend you.

To disable explicit content from our website on a computer, click the icon (initial or picture) on the top right corner of the page, select Settings, and then Content Settings.

There, you should see an Explicit Content toggle, which indicates whether you would like to allow explicit content or not. Set this to Off.

You might also consider upgrading to Pandora Plus or Pandora Premium. These are our advertising-free subscriptions, which also offer a number of other benefits you might find attractive.

For instance, Pandora Plus includes unlimited skips, replays, and offline listening, while Pandora Premium boasts all of these features as well as a curated, on-demand library.

Of course, we're happy to have folks listen, whether they are paid or free.

I hope this is helpful, and that you can understand the approach we have taken.

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Vanessapelli
Local Performer
Hi Adam,

Explicit words do not offend me at all. I prefer listening to uncensored music. You missed the mark here. My husband died of a drug overdose I found him it was extremely traumatic. Everyday I listen to Pandora I am repeatedly played the same ads they NEVER change and one is about getting help for drug addiction in NJ. It is a commercial where each drug addicted person says why they want to get sober. Please make it stop my husband died and my son lost his father.

To say listening to explicit content makes you more likely to be a drug addict or have an unplanned pregnancy is wildly offensive and just plain wrong.


Best regards,
Vanessa Anderson

AdamPandora
Moderator
Moderator

@Vanessapelli I apologize if my last reply came across as insensitive - that was not my intention.

I was more-so trying to inform you that if you were to enable the explicit filter on your account, it would prevent both of those ads from playing on your stations.

That way, you would not have to hear them moving forward.

This being said, I have passed your message along to our Ads team for further review.

We appreciate you taking the time to reach out to us about this!

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CarlG23
Local Performer

Why is Pandora allowing the MyPillow jerk advertise on their platform ?

AdaVenture
Local Performer

I'm absolutely horrified that you are allowing My Pillow Guy ads on your platform. To say that you need the advertising money is the most offensive response, moderator. How about accepting advertising money from the NRA? Or Proud Boys? Or MAGA? Please, it's disgusting and the VERY LAST THING I WILL DO IS UPGRADE TO ADVERT FREE. I WILL NOT GIVE YOU MY MONEY.  Remove these ads now. If I hear another one, I'm done with you Pandora. 

otieatkins
Local Performer

Did the ad say "It's gay day"?

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AdamPandora
Moderator
Moderator

@otieatkins I'm happy to look into this for you, but I'll need a bit more information first. Could you tell me a little more?

Please include as much of the below information as possible:

  1. What was the ad for? Do you remember the brand, product, event or website name?
  2. Do you remember anything else that was said in the ad that played?
  3. How are you accessing Pandora? Are you on a computer, phone, tablet or in-home device (TV, Xbox, Blu-ray player, etc.)?
  4. Was it a visual ad, an audio ad, or a video ad with audio?
  5. Which of your station(s) did you hear/see it on?
  6. What day did this advertisement play?


If you're able to get a screenshot of what's happening, please send that along as well.

Once I have more information about the ad, I can pass it along to our advertising team.

We really appreciate your help with this! 

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porcinichef
Local Performer

Adding my voice to the chorus (as small as it is!) to get rid of Mike Lindell/My Pillow. Hearing his ad made me wonder whether there was a financial connection to the far right. I was happy to see that *most* of your political contributions go left, but still... Mike Lindell?  Blech...make him go away!

JullieB989
Local Performer

I absolutely agree.  It was horrifying to hear this come on the air and made me want to 'pull the plug' on this service immediately. It is not benign to accept advertising from those who advocate sedition, conspiracies and division in our country.  Promoting this viewpoint has had violent results.  It's NOT okay.  This is about ethical business practices.  It's probably at the owner level where this is happening, not the rank and file.  Will consider dropping this service once I do more research.  Darn.

378018
Diamond in the Rough

I agree. Election deniers have no business placing ads.

vstol
Underground

Pandora should not accept money from someone using his own voice to advertise for his pillows, when he also advocated for martial law to overturn a lawful democratic election. Please let us block or ban your most offensive advertisement!

vstol
Underground

I agree that the second person is portrayed as ignorant. "Give me that microphone thingy"???

CitizenOne
Local Performer

How do I stop pride month advertisements on my account?
It’s one thing to seek it out but advertisements that pop up and take over my account (in the app as well) is not what I pay a membership towards. I do not support this nor do I want to listen to  artists lumped together simply based off of their sexuality.

Stop the bs!