Kopparberg says it will pull ads from GB News and it’s sparked a huge debate

The much awaited “of the people” news channel GB News launched on Sunday and annoyed and interested people in equal measure.

In his introductory address, chairman Andrew Neil said GB News “won’t dwell much on the latest gossip of the Westminster bubble”, adding that it will “puncture the pomposity of our elites in politics, business, media and academia and expose the growing promotion of cancel culture for the threat to free speech and democracy that it is”.

He may be disappointed then that GB News has appears to have been cancelled by one Swedish cider company – Kopparberg.

Posting on Twitter in response to a list of companies that advertise on the channel, the brand said they were not even aware they were advertising on GB News and had “suspended” further ads pending a review of its content:

Ouch.

And just like that, they triggered the outrage of those accusing the fruity drink of succumbing to both “woke” and “cancel” culture. Belinda de Lucy, former Brexit Party MEP, said:

And her former colleague Martin Daubney called on people to boycott the brand. (Wait – is that not cancel culture, Daubney?:)

They were not the only people to cry over their ciders:

Others applauded their decision:

Kopparbergs’ apparent retreat from the channel is not the only advertising issue GB News has encountered.

Campaign group Stop Funding Hate has been campaigning for advertisers to similarly shun the channel by calling them out on Twitter. They have targeted brands including Starbucks, Weetabix, Vodafone and Facebook.

And in response to another Twitter post from someone supportive of the Stop Funding Hate campaign, Kopparberg issued the same response, confirming they are pulling adverts:

We’ve contacted Kopparberg to get the full tea, or cider in this case. We’ll let you know if they have anything to add.