EMAIL: Adman Quits Over 'Moral Objections' To Working For Al Jazeera
AP Photo / Haraz N. GhanbariAn email is circulating in which advertising analytics director Yosaif Cohain announces his resignation from Huge, a Brooklyn-based ad agency. The reason: his "moral objections" to working with Al Jazeera.
Here's Cohain's explanation for his quick departure, sans new job:
"Friends –
Because of moral objections that I have with Huge working with Al Jazeera, I have resigned from my position at Huge, effective immediately. I simply cannot work for a company that works with them. Today is my last day.
I know some might think my decision is rash or extreme. You should know that I have thought about this at length for the past two weeks and am very confident in my decision. I won’t attempt to convince anyone about my opinions or beliefs – I will just hope that even if you disagree with them, you can respect my decision and my need to stay true to who I am and what I believe in. I’m leaving with a lot of sadness and disappointment in Huge, but also with my head held high.
I'm not sure what my next steps will be – I’m going to take a step back to evaluate a few things and will be updating my resume. If you have leads for me, I’d appreciate them.
Thank you all for your ongoing friendship and support – I will miss you guys. To those of you that have offered words of support and encouragement about my decision, I thank you in particular – this has not been easy for me.
All my best – Yosaif” Al Jazeera's purchase of Current TV in January incited a mixed bag of positive and negative reactions. Time Warner, for example, immediately announced its decision to drop the network from its service. While Cohain did not specify his "moral objections," Current's decision to sell to Al Jazeera provoked a backlash against some media folk who disagree with the network's pro-Arab positions, and among Current TV staffers who were angry that the green-friendly network was now in the hands of a company that comes from a country, Qatar, which is one of the biggest oil exporters in the world. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, praised Al Jazeera's increasing prominence for providing 'real news,' unlike some of its American counterparts. According to sources for Agency Spy, which first published the email, however, the shop's D.C. office was just one of many ad agencies approached to work with Al Jazeera. Huge has worked with Comcast, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Pizza Hut.