How woke capitalism could sink mega-merger of ad giants Omnicom and Interpublic
The mega-merger of advertising giants Omnicom and Interpublic will face more regulatory scrutiny than you think – and a key sticking point is woke capitalism, On The Money has learned.Donald Trump isn’t even in the White House yet, but left-wingers in corporate America are already freaking out – and justifiably so.Paramount, for example, needs approval for a merger with the Hollywood studio Skydance, but as I reported for The Post earlier this week, its left-leaning network CBS may be in violation of the Federal Communications Commission’s fairness provisions.That, I am told, is according to Brendan Carr, the incoming top cop at the FCC, who will enforce a mandate on how local TV stations operate over public airwaves (as opposed to cable).
Carr believes how CBS covered the 2024 presidential election was further proof of its lack of “fairness” – as in providing both sides in any political debate, my sources tell me.Likewise, ad agencies like Omnicom and Interpublic could face similar heat when they seek approval for their $25 billion merger when the Trump regulators take over next year.One key issue is the agencies’ reliance on so-called news rating services that rank outlets on whether they peddle allegedly inappropriate content such as misinformation. These ratings, critics claim, are based less on real misinformation and more on left-wing groupthink.
Ad dollars then skew significantly to left-leaning news sites and networks, which brings us to the antitrust angle (which I’ll get into) that could impact the Omnicom-Interpublic deal, my DC sources say.Many of the news organizations deemed safe by these services were outlets that labeled as misinformation The Post’s very true Hunter Biden laptop story.Plus, it’s no secret that Madison Avenue is notoriously woke. That’s why conservative activists say ad agencies and corporate ad departments seek political and regulatory cover to avoid news sites outside the progressive ecosystem of the N...