June 16, 2011

Rush Limbaugh presents his new product — bottled tea — as a political argument for entrepreneurship.

"What I wanted to demonstrate was that even with the obstacles that we face, like Obama out there, that jobs can be created and that growth or jobs can be saved, to use his vernacular, and a new product can be brought to market."

The label is political: Check it out.

Did anyone tell Sarah Palin that Limbaugh was going to be exploiting the Paul Revere image? Or did she just happen to step on his roll-out of new merchandise?

What do you think of Rush Limbaugh portraying himself as Paul Revere and putting the American flag on the label?

If I were to drink this, it would most likely be...
... because it's the best tea at the best price.
... to tweak and annoy liberals.
... to horse around and get a little attention.
... to make an unspoken argument in favor of traditional values.
... to help Rush prove that private entrepreneurship is the way to save the economy.
  
pollcode.com free polls

86 comments:

Freeman Hunt said...

I am going to try that tea. See if it is everything he says it is.

Shouting Thomas said...

Unfortunately, this is a useless product in a market already crowded with similar useless products.

Who in the hell needs a bottled tea?

There are already at least a dozen brands out there.

Celebrity vanity product. Of course, Rush has the right to do as he pleases. If it employs some people, all the better.

But, I think we need something a little more important and essential than iced tea as an argument for entrepreneurship.

Curious George said...

"... because it's the best tea at the best price."

This poll response is telling

rhhardin said...

Kroger's house brand is $3.99 for 12 16oz bottles, an opening made when Snapple doubled its price.

Rush's price in turn is twice Snapple's.

Maybe he saw an opening at the high end of the market.

He used to have a line of Rush neckties.

Snapple used to be a favorite Rush sponsor, back when they were owned by the original creators.

yashu said...

Well, David Lynch sells coffee, why shouldn't Rush Limbaugh sell tea?

Scott M said...

I'm not sure I get it, which is not surprising given my relative thickness (not a Weiner pun, btw).

Proving that a new product can be rolled out and jobs created, even in this economy, would seem to support the administration rather than admonish it.

KCFleming said...

I want to see Sarah Palin brand firearms.

Or mebbe a S&W with her signature on it, like the old Louisville sluggers.

AlphaLiberal said...

Rush Limbaugh's fan, Ann Althouse, ignores the big story on Limbaugh's corruption:

Conservative Media’s Pay-To-Play Deals

"“The Heritage Foundation pays about $2 million to sponsor Limbaugh’s show and about $1.3 million to do the same with Hannity’s — and considers it money well spent.

“‘We approach it the way anyone approaches advertising: Where is our audience that wants to buy what you sell?’ Genevieve Wood, Heritage’s vice president for operations and marketing. ‘And their audiences obviously fit that model for us. They promote conservative ideas and that’s what we do.’

“Last month, in the midst of a flurry of scrutiny of GOP presidential candidates’ stances on health insurance mandates similar to one included in the 2010 Democratic healthcare overhaul, Limbaugh took to the airwaves to defend Heritage’s past support for such a proposal.

“‘The Heritage Foundation to this day says they are being impugned and misrepresented in terms of their advocacy for such a thing,’ Limbaugh said, explaining that the venerable think tank ‘abandoned the idea once they saw it implemented’ and realized ‘it doesn’t work’ …”"

It's all about the Benjamin's and wingnut welfare pays well.

AlphaLiberal said...

"Understand: We are not talking about commercials, separated from the main flow of editorial content. Heritage work is embedded and inserted directly into the editorial flow of the Limbaugh program, as if selected without regard to the money paid.

Also understand: It's not just Limbaugh, and it's not just Heritage."

Do Limbaugh fans even care? More importantly, would they ever question their ideological leaders? (no)

AllenS said...

Some day, and I hope it's in the near future, obama will be selling golf balls. But his biggest seller will be obama koolaid.

I suppose there is a market for the Rush tea, but soon the fad will go away.

Tags: lameness

TMink said...

I often agree with Rush, but I didn't really start to like him till I saw him on the Haney Project. He competitive spirit and goofy presentation to the cameras was really humanizing. I might buy the tea just to say I have.

And alpha, conservatives believe in free enterprise. Benjamins are fine baby, and we admit that. Rush is an unrepetant capitalist, and The Heritage Foundation believes that they get good results from advertising through him. No problem.

Trey

KCFleming said...

Maybe you can still sell tea in the US and make money, but you can't afford to have a private practice in medicine anymore.

TMink said...

Alpha, I always knew the Heritage foundation was a sponsor. Maybe liberals need to work on their listening skills. I present last election as evidence to the point.

See you in 2012. I bet none of you hear it coming.

Trey

AlphaLiberal said...

Meanwhile, back on Earth, we have news reports this morning that the Bush/Cheney/Vader Administration sought to use US intelligence agencies to spy on a university professor who dissented with their invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Because nothing says "freedom" like using spies to suppress free speech.

University professor Ann Althouse expected to take Cheney's side in this infringement on citizen and academic freedom.

Hey, maybe then Lush Windbag will mention her.

AlphaLiberal said...

TMink,

It is not a matter of sponsorship or commercials. It is more than that. It is "I will include mention of your group in my editorial content if you grease my palm."

Pay to play. The ideas you hear are not broadcast due to their interest or accuracy but how much they pay off the drug addict.

Scott M said...

Pay to play

Speaking as a veteran broadcaster, Alpha, I would suggest you go research exactly what constitutes "pay for play" and get back to us. You're also forgetting the fact that Rush owns his show. This is wholly unlike some rock jock accepting money/stuff for playing a given studio or artists work.

garage mahal said...

Do Limbaugh fans even care?

No.

KCFleming said...

AlphaLiberal abandons his shocked shocked!! pearl-clutching when Democratic-controlled lobbyists write legislation for health care and cap-and-trade, the laws that were never read by the Democratic congressman who voted yes.

That is, it's not the hypocrisy he rejects, it's just that they aren't on his side.

garage mahal said...

Bu...bu...but but teh left!!!!!

Scott M said...

laws that were never read by the Democratic congressman who voted yes

tsk, tsk, Pogo. Congresspeople. Let's remember to be politically correct.

KCFleming said...

Sorry, Congresscritters.

Are they really people, or pod people?

Temujin said...

Those on the left, do not worry. I'm sure Gwyneth Paltrow will be coming out with her own brand of tea very soon. It'll be more natural, with the tea leaves hand-picked by an indigenous group somewhere, and a portion of each purchase to be donated to an organization who claims to be saving the earth and all of mankind. Or...humankind. Or...something...

KCFleming said...

'Bu...bu...but but teh left!!!!!'

Exactly, garage. The ones that have used pay-to-play to:
1) Write the Obamacare laws
2) Get waivers from Obamacare
3) Save bankrupt auto industries
4) Save auto dealerships
5) "200 of [Obama's] biggest donors have landed plum government jobs and advisory posts, won federal contracts worth millions of dollars for their business interests or attended numerous elite White House meetings and social events"

Garage and Alpha:
"Heritage pays to write copy for a political radio show!!1!"

SGT Ted said...

So, in Liberal Idiotland, private entities sponsoring a privately owned radio show which is broadcast on private radio networks, with no use of tax dollar grants or subsidies, is "welfare".

Keep being you, liberals. You entertain me with your dumbness.

As my whimsy leads me.. said...

Rush actually resembles Paul Revere.
Rush's role could be compared to Paul Revere's, in that he raises the alarm against forces that would suppress American freedom and independence. I think the Flag Code, with regards to advertizing, has been ignored for so many decades that it is (sadly) not reasonable to expect people to adhere to it. The flag isn't supposed to be worn on clothing, either, which I heard discussed a lot in the '70s. I would be happy just to see people put their hands over their hearts during the national anthem. And for men to take off their hats. And for everyone to stop talking and squirming around.

Toy

Ann Althouse said...

"Rush Limbaugh's fan, Ann Althouse, ignores the big story on Limbaugh's corruption..."

It's a nonstory to anyone who actually listens to the show. It's the kind of radio ad where the host starts talking about the product, and you might be fooled at first about whether it's an ad or not. It's like what Barry Farber used to do with Gold Bond Powder. Rush used to do it with mattresses and hot water heaters. It's a long-time traditional style of radio ad.

Ann Althouse said...

"It is not a matter of sponsorship or commercials. It is more than that. It is "I will include mention of your group in my editorial content if you grease my palm.""

That's what you say when you don't listen to the show. You are not talking to people who like the show, who can immediately tell that you don't know what you're talking about. You're can only talk to the kind of people who hate Rush without listening to the show, the people who will buy that he's a big old racist and sexist, etc. etc. etc. Boring! If you want to criticize Rush, do your homework. Listen to the show for a month. Subscribe to the website and download a month of podcasts and listen. When you're up to speed, try to communicate with the people who understand the show.

Shanna said...

I would buy it if they would come out with the cinnamon and peppermint tea's that my favorite, honest tea, discontinued.

Robert Cook said...

Pogo, where in the article you linked to was it stated physicians were leaving their practices because they could no longer afford to stay in business?

Here's the key paragraph describing motive:

"Physicians tell the survey that they are increasingly attracted to the benefits offered by hospital-based employment opportunities, which include: relief from administrative responsibilities; greater access to leading healthcare information technology tools, facilities and equipment; and a more manageable work week and stability."

There may very well be physicians giving up their practices because they cannot afford to keep them going, (and this is true of private business owners in all fields of endeavor), but this is not stated in the article you link to.

Scott M said...

When you're up to speed, try to communicate with the people who understand the show

...or who know how broadcasting actually works. Either way, your complaints are of the copy/paste version, AL.

SGT Ted said...

yes, pearl clutching is perfect for the lefty clowns. Their political heroes are whoring out legislation to favor their political allies and alpha/garage are pissed off about Rush Limbaugh agreeing with the Heritage Foudation.

Guys, you realise that this isn't much of a smoking gun about anything? That your j'accuse is just more drama queenery and "look, an evil rightwinger!" moronic fingerpointing, right?

No I guess not.

Ipso Fatso said...

Now if he would just come out with an Oxycontin flavor....

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Alpha lib thinks that advertising = corruption. Only in leftwing lala land.

Lincolntf said...

Speaking of Rush, I'm wondering when he (or any radio guy) will take on the two big issues of this summer: Operation Gunrunner and Obama's illegal war in Libya.
I know "it's the economy, stupid", but exposing criminality and deception in the Admin. is important, too. Especially when bodies are piling up.

As my whimsy leads me.. said...

Paul Revere

Sorry, I don't think my previous link works, so the above should.

Toy

WV: ernica: variation on herb needed by Madison protesters.

Robert Cook said...

"Rush's role could be compared to Paul Revere's, in that he raises the alarm against forces that would suppress American freedom and independence."

Hahaha...I doubt it.

KCFleming said...

"where in the article you linked to was it stated physicians were leaving their practices because they could no longer afford to stay in business?"

The article is written by an Obamacare cheerleader or sycophant.

In their imagination, MDs have seen the light of being in a giant conglomerate rather than owning their own business.

Your inability to read PRAVDA the right way is not unfixable, but I don't have the time to upgrade your bullshit detector.

Fred4Pres said...

Rush should market a lavender tea for Democrats.

garage mahal said...

If you had just read the Unambomber's Manifesto, you'd understand what he did was not a big deal!

KCFleming said...

@Robert Cook:

1) Read the comments below the article for the correct interpretation.

2) Attempt to explain what this bullshit means, in English (from the article):

""Health reform is challenging the entire system to deliver improved care through insight driven health," Kristin Ficery, a senior executive at Accenture Health, says in a statement."

It's homeopathy of language.
Seriously, though, "insight driven health"? WTF is that??

Dark Eden said...

Ordered some because Rush designed it, I like Rush, I like tea, and I'm curious how good it is. If its bad tea I'm not going to keep drinking it just on the off chance I'll wander by a liberal and he'll get annoyed by the label. There are easier and cheaper ways to annoy liberals. Its not hard.

KCFleming said...

Garage sells really weak tea.

Teri said...

I will buy it to annoy my (flaming lib) husband and children. I might not even drink it. Just having it in the house will make their heads explode.

yashu said...

Really, Garage, that's the analogy you're going with?

garage mahal said...

Tea Parties are for little girls and make believe friends.

Scott M said...

Are you suggesting, Garage, that little girls and make-believe friends handed your party's ass, in history-making fashion, to you last November?

Henry said...

I don't drink tea.

Now Buddy Cianci, the former Mayor of Providence and a convicted felon, put his name on an excellent marinara sauce. I bought that.

Because it was good.

KCFleming said...

Tea Parties are for little girls and make believe friends.

Henry said...

insight driven health

And as opposed to what? What did doctors practice before consultants?

Furthermore, does this mean that "evidence-based health" failed some kind of marketing focus group?

I don't mind insurance companies making actuarial claims about health. They actually deal with statistics. But please don't let business consulting firms in that door.

FedkaTheConvict said...

With this one venture Rush has probably created more employment than Obama has in the last three years.

Can someone tell me of an instance when Obama put his personal assets/wealth at risk to create jobs?

garage mahal said...

Are you suggesting, Garage, that little girls and make-believe friends handed your party's ass, in history-making fashion, to you last November?

The tea party is really nothing more than FreedomWorks/AFP astroturf shilling for Republicans. The Republican brand was so damaged so "We're the Tea Party now!"

These idiots don't even know the original Tea Party were protesting against corporate rule.

Scott M said...

The tea party is really nothing more than FreedomWorks/AFP astroturf shilling for Republicans

You never disappoint, Garage. 'Course, now I have to clean coffee off my keyboard and monitor. But damned, thanks for the guffaw.

Anonymous said...

It's like what Barry Farber used to do with Gold Bond Powder. Rush used to do it with mattresses and hot water heaters. It's a long-time traditional style of radio ad.

I'll add that anything that I've ever tried based on the ads like this has been really fantastic. My husband had some Sharry's Berries (advertised on Hannity, I think) sent to my office last week for our aniversary, and WOW, were they good.

I have a hearing impairment (not nearly as severe as Rush's), and am really curious about that new surgical procedure that Rush has been touting. Unfortunately, it's $30,000 that is not covered by insurance, so out of the question, but I'd bet it's really a great breakthrough.

- Lyssa

Anonymous said...

It's like what Barry Farber used to do with Gold Bond Powder. Rush used to do it with mattresses and hot water heaters. It's a long-time traditional style of radio ad.

I'll add that anything that I've ever tried based on the ads like this has been really fantastic. My husband had some Sharry's Berries (advertised on Hannity, I think) sent to my office last week for our aniversary, and WOW, were they good.

I have a hearing impairment (not nearly as severe as Rush's), and am really curious about that new surgical procedure that Rush has been touting. Unfortunately, it's $30,000 that is not covered by insurance, so out of the question, but I'd bet it's really a great breakthrough.

- Lyssa

deborah said...

Bottled tea is popular, but I think the concept is yucky, and it tastes gross.

For iced tea, just brew a cup of favorite tea and poor over ice.

MadisonMan said...

Is this creating new jobs, or just shifting old ones around? I wonder how saturated the bottled tea market is already? (I don't drink tea, unless I make sun tea).

Scott M said...

I'll add that anything that I've ever tried based on the ads like this has been really fantastic.

Any jock worth their salt will not do live reads (the type of advertising we're talking about here) for a product or service they don't believe in. The reason is that, unlike pre-produced "rip'n'reads", the talent is marrying his/her name and show directly to the customer. For this reason, in anything larger than a medium market, the jock is usually given leave to say yay or nay to the sales reps trying to get them to do these on their show.

Thus, the live reads tend to be superior if in no other light than the opinion of the host.

Shanna said...

Seriously, though, "insight driven health"? WTF is that??

Does ‘insight driven health’ include those balance bracelets? They will fix your balance! Even though they are plastic with stickers on them!

FedkaTheConvict said...

Is this creating new jobs, or just shifting old ones around? I wonder how saturated the bottled tea market is already? (I don't drink tea, unless I make sun tea).

Then you can call it "jobs saved or created."

deborah said...

Okay, that's pour over ice. Gee, I hope I don't have early Altzheimer's.

Calypso Facto said...

"Tea Parties are for little girls and make believe friends."

Cuz, you know, the truly courageous just sit meekly in the corner paying punitive taxes levied by imperial edict. Garage = the lapdog Governor Hutchinson praising the wisdom and beneficence of the corrupt king while supporting increasing taxation of his countrymen.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

From Limbaugh's tea site:
"Two If By Tea™ is proud to salute the men and women of our armed forces and their families. Two If By Tea™ is a proud sponsor of the Marine Corps - Law Enforcement Foundation and will donate a minimum of $100,000 to MC-LEF beginning in June 2011."


OH NO! Libtard heads just exploded. How dare he give money to our military. All money belongs to the corrupt democrats and The State. [and George Soror and Media Matters]

yashu said...

If I recall correctly, Garage attended a Tea Party rally in Madison a while back and was surprisingly honest & gracious enough to admit that the Tea Partiers he saw there were real (not make believe), ordinary (not loony-extremist), decent (not hateful racist) human beings. But alas, it turns out they were Astroturf all along... or, that suprising moment of honesty & graciousness was a one-time aberration. Oh well.

SGT Ted said...

One can always count on garage to echo the George Soros funded, Media Matters manufactured out of nothing leftwing propaganda bullshit about how the TP isn't real because some right leaning rich guy somewhere sent them some money.

Freeman Hunt said...

Most bottled tea has a strange taste. He says that his doesn't. We'll see.

SGT Ted said...

I mean really. Medai Matters is the epitome of astroturf organizing to manufacture consent and garage and other lefties can't see how dumb it makes their j'accuse! charges of phoniness when aimed at anybody.

edutcher said...

Actually, the poll should have check boxes so the last and the second can be chosen together.

And Miss Sarah probably did El Rushbo a favor, reminding everybody of the legendary midnight rider.

PS Alpha, our own Debbie Wasserman "we own this economy" Schultz shows up to make sure everybody knows the Demos hate free enterprise.

Jim said...

"Rush's role could be compared to Paul Revere's, in that he raises the alarm against forces that would suppress American freedom and independence."

But I thought Paul Revere was warning the British?

Sarah Palin said it, so it absolutely cannot be wrong. If you love America (REAL America), you'll read what she said and edit your original statement to match.

Dark Eden said...

Garage: The tea party is really nothing more than FreedomWorks/AFP astroturf shilling for Republicans

Every time I see a quote like this, I think of this quote by Sun Tsu: “Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.”

The Democrats don't know the first thing about the Republicans, their chief political enemies. They know all about the bizarre racist sexist fascist strawmen they create, but they can't even see the real thing standing in front of them.

They are even deaf to Althouse calling them out on this and asking them to at least try to argue about who Republicans really are. And for this simple desire to debate reality instead of fantasy, Althouse is called a right wing shill even though she seems to pretty consistently vote Democrat.

traditionalguy said...

Does it have secret ingredients? Coca Cola had some trace cocaine in it when they started up. Rush's drink may have trace Oxycodone in it to mellow out angry Tea Partiers. But that could backfire and put them all to sleep on election day.

As my whimsy leads me.. said...

By the way, if you have friends and relatives who differ in preference of sweetened or unsweetend iced tea, you can make simple syrup that mixes well and doesn't sink to the bottom of the glass, the way sugar crystals do. Take a cup of sugar and a cup of water, heat it (stirring) until the sugar dissolves. Let it cool, and it is ready to add to your iced tea to your taste!

Toy

Patrick said...

$23 bucks for a twelve pack? Better have more than a touch of good scotch in there...

coketown said...

It irritates me when just-launched sites have a frequently asked questions section. You just launched! Who are these people queuing up to ask questions? There must be a lot of them for some questions to be asked with greater frequency than others.

TMink said...

"Tea Parties are for little girls and make believe friends."

Who vote.

At least they did in 2010. And I bet they will in 2012 too.

Trey

Scott M said...

When the internet was first developed, I wonder if there were any closet socialists that thought, "Damn! We are SO close. We need another generation to cement the victory, but this thing could undo the whole leap forward."

Unfortunately, light does tend to make the best disinfectant. The internet is nothing if not made of light.

TMink said...

"The tea party is really nothing more than FreedomWorks/AFP astroturf shilling for Republicans."

You are mistaken. I have been to the rallies, I am a tea party member, and I have nothing to do with FreedomWorks and do not know what AFP means. Honest.

Look at your average SEIU protest. The signs are machine made, the people wear the same clothes, and they arrive in one bus.

Contrast that with a tea party rally. Tea party rallies are a sea of individuals who happen to agree on a few things and are trying to do something about them. It has no leader, although there are certainly people we like, it has no overriding organization although there are plenty of people who want a piece of the lucious pie!

The closest analogy would be the peace movement of the 60s. Many of the civil rights protesters were trained in nonvioence and organized. A fine thing in my view as they were attacked by goons and needed the training to survive and keep from getting off the important message.

This is the honest truth garage. You can see it in Madison. The progressives were encouraged and sometimes paid, the tea party folks voted and won. I do not say this to get you to join, although you are certainly welcome, I say it so you can see this accurately. You deserve that. Once you see it accurately, you will be able to have a better idea of how to fight for your political beliefs.

Pretending that we are astroturf cost Nancy the gavel. It will cost the President his teleprompter.

Trey

Alex said...

I'd like AL or garage to explain me the ethical dilemma of Rush taking money from Heritage Foundation.

Alex said...

Is this creating new jobs, or just shifting old ones around? I wonder how saturated the bottled tea market is already? (I don't drink tea, unless I make sun tea).

What do you care? Rush is most likely wasting his own money on a pointless business project. It's his money to waste.

Scott M said...

I'd like AL or garage to explain me the ethical dilemma of Rush taking money from Heritage Foundation.

Too late. He posted, he realized he didn't know what he was talking about, and he slinked back into his lair.

Alex said...

It seems to me that left-wingers are constantly searching for "smoking-guns" on conservatives.

Methadras said...

If it's good I'll buy it.

Don M said...

Tweak Tea?

Skay said...

Jim----

Letter from Paul Revere to Dr. Jeremy Belknap describing the night of his ride.

Read the rest of the story.

reformed trucker said...

Fuck Rush; he's so early 90's. You must be so new to conservatism you don't recognize he's a has been. Like Mr. multiple wives can lecture me on anything. Same reason Newt needs to shut the fuck up and go away. I fell for that shit 2 decades ago. Save your finger wagging and piss off...hypocrite.

Fuck blue blood/country club Republicans...hypocrites.

This is a new era of conservatism (Libertarian); the old dogs need to fade off into the sunset.

monitronics said...

I think Rush gave his new and fourth wife a little business to run to keep her out of his hair.

One of the other wives ran the defunct tie business.

Just what we need, more bottled tea!
At least half the available market will not touch it with Rush's face on it.

This is a lark.

A busy work project for his young thing.

Freeman Hunt said...

RT, Rush is a big moralizer?

Did you want us to know that you'd never listened to him or was that a joke?