Kellogg yanks ads from Breitbart

Kellogg Co. is pulling its ads from Breitbart News, the right-wing website previously helmed by incoming White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

“We regularly work with our media-buying partners to ensure our ads do not appear on sites that aren’t aligned with our company values,” Kellogg spokeswoman Kris Charles said Tuesday, according to Bloomberg Politics.

{mosads}“We recently reviewed the list of sites where our ads can be placed and decided to discontinue advertising on Breitbart.com. We are working to remove our ads from the site.”

Charles said the company decided to “blacklist” Breitbart after being contacted by customers who saw ads for its products there. Kellogg is a breakfast food maker based in Battle Creek, Mich. mainly known for cereals including Frosted Flakes, Frosted Mini-Wheats and Special K.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday on a social media effort aimed at calling out companies that advertise on Breitbart, which has published a series of controversial articles critics called racist and anti-Semitic.

Breitbart on Tuesday called Kellogg’s decision “economic censorship” and “un-American,” according to the AP.

The conservative website added Kellogg was insulting “to its own detriment” the consumers who helped elect Donald Trump earlier this month.

Digiday reported last week several major brands have also yanked their advertising from Breitbart besides Kellogg. Allstate, EarthLink, Nest, SoFi and Warby Parker are some of the companies that have made similar moves.

Breitbart had 19.2 million unique monthly U.S. visitors in October, up from 12.9 million a year ago, according to ComScore Inc. The website does not rely on subscriptions, Bloomberg noted Tuesday, suggesting advertising is a major source of revenue for the website.

Bannon served as Breitbart’s chairman before leaving to become Trump’s presidential campaign CEO earlier this year. The president-elect announced Bannon as his White House chief strategist and senior counselor earlier this month.

The appointment stoked controversy due to Bannon’s tenure at Breitbart, which he has described as a “platform for the alt-right.” Critics say the alt-right is an ideology glorifying white nationalism, anti-Semitism and misogyny.

Trump last week defended Bannon against charges of racism, vowing he would not have hired his embattled adviser if he were bigoted.