Here's the bottom line:
He was suspended as a kneejerk reaction to what A&E thought would be market pressure to have him taken off, forgetting that the show appeals to a market segment that would be, at worst, indifferent to his comments. Being concerned that gays and urban liberals will stop watching duck dynasty is a little like fretting over Republicans boycotting Rachel Maddow. They were never and were never going to be the target audience in the first place.
They-and the gay lobbyists-also ignored that their star was an independently wealthy hillbilly that wasn't going to apologize for his beliefs. Nobody who lives the way that guy does is anything but in iconoclast.
And as far as advertisers go anyone advertising on duck dynasty has already figured out who the viewers are and whether they want to reach those viewers with their products. And again it isn't homosexuals or urban liberals
Poorly conceived suspension and poorly conceived boycott threat.
