Why did Lowe’s pull ads for All-American Muslim?

Home improvement mega-chain Lowe’s is receiving some serious backlash after caving to pressure from the Florida Family Association and removing ads for TLC’s All-American Muslim.

Many people have launched online campaigns, complaints and petitions chastising the company for their decision to remove their advertising from the show which focuses on 5 Dearborn, Michigan Lebanese-American Shia Muslim families.

According to the Detroit Free Press this decision came after a group that calls themselves the Florida Family Association pressured the corporation to stop their ads. Why would the FFA want this you ask? Here is their explanation via their official site:

The Learning Channel’s new show All-American Muslim is propaganda clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many Muslims who are advancing Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia law.  The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish.

According to the “About Us” section of FFA a former corporate accounting controller, David Caton, founded the organization. Their mission is to:

Educate people on what they can do to defend, protect and promote traditional, biblical values.

Via their website there are numerous calls for their members to submit opposing emails to companies that support pornography, homosexuality, and transgender lifestyles. Shows and companies they have targeted include Disney for their Gay Day, Hasbro, Sweet N’ Low for their All-American Muslim spot and Circle K among many others.

Lowe’s made the following statement when deciding to remove their advertising dollars:

“Lowe’s has received a significant amount of communication on this program, from every perspective possible,” the retail company said. “Individuals and groups have strong political and societal views on this topic, and this program became a lighting rod for many of those views. As a result we did pull our advertising on this program. We believe it is best to respectfully defer to communities, individuals and groups to discuss and consider such issues of importance.”

Here is an older video from Fox13 Tampa featuring Mr. Caton in which he calls into question the death of a Muslim woman. The police and medical examiner found the death to be caused by accident but Caton is positive that it was an “honor killing.”

Caton stated:

“Islamization of our country is the greatest threat to our way of life, our American way of life as we know it.”

Caton himself was an admitted long time addict of pornography. He has written a self help book entitled, “Overcoming the Addiction to Pornography.” In a book description from biblio.com:

“This book is intended for people who have been exposed to the harmful effects of pornography. This book explains how the author successfully overcame a seventeen year addiction to porography. Author David Caton spent four years to accurately piece together the steps he took to overcome the shackles of sexual bondage. The book is intended for the thousands of people who are addicted to pornography, for the wives of porn addicts, and for those who counsel people with sexual bondage.”

Following the firestorm since the decision Lowe’s has addressed the situation, partly citing their dedication to diversity as reflected in their employee and customer base:

“It appears that we managed to step into a hotly contested debate with strong views from virtually every angle and perspective – social, political and otherwise – and we’ve managed to make some people very unhappy. We are sincerely sorry. We have a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, across our workforce and our customers, and we’re proud of that longstanding commitment.”

David Caton – Founder of the Florida Family Association

A California state Senator is really outraged by the decision. Ted Lieu is demanding that the company reinstate its support for the show in a letter written to Lowe’s CEO, Robert A. Niblock. In part he wrote:

“Lowe’s religious discrimination is the equivalent of a company asserting that it is pulling advertising from the Christian Broadcast Network’s 700 Club because the program somehow ‘riskily hides’ the agenda of Christian radicalized groups such as Aryan Nation. That assertion would, of course, be utter nonsense and religious bigotry.”

Top Photo: Jaafar family courtesy of TLC’s All-American Muslim