GB News targeted by green activists as part of boycott campaign

GB News hosts have previously referred to Greta Thunberg as “that annoying little Swedish teenager.” Photo: Volodymyr Shtanko/Anadolu Agency

A coffee shop chain has become the latest company to remove ads from GB News as the broadcaster claims it is facing a “massive ad boycott”.

Grind, a cafe chain with 14 outlets across London, confirmed this week that he has canceled “all future spending” on GB News after a campaign group criticized him for advertising on the channel.

In a tweet to businesses last week, the group Climate Pressure Stop Funding Heat said: “Hey Grind! We're sorry your ad was seen on GB News…is this not the channel you want to look up to?”

He posted a video with excerpts from GB News' coverage of climate issues, in which hosts called activist Greta Thunberg “that annoying little Swedish teenager.”

On Monday, Grind announced that it would no longer advertise with the channel.

In response, Grind said: “We would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention, of course, we pulled all future expenses from GB News”.

Hello. We would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention, it goes without saying that we have pulled all future expenses from GB News. If there is anything else we can help with please email hello@grind.co.uk. Thank you! ☕️

— Grind (@grind) July 3, 2023

In another tweet, Grind said: “We missed this because of the ads running on a long list of channels.”

UK news anchor Michelle Dewberry said on Thursday, that leaving the coffee shop hurts freedom of speech.

On air on the channel, Ms. Dewberry said, “We're under a massive ad boycott, and we've been since, long before we started airing even a second of content.”

Every time Mrs. Ms. Dewberry said that a new advertiser connected to the channel starts a new campaign almost immediately to force them to opt out.

She said: “Political-motivated online pressure groups have made it their life to shut us down.” .

People like Lawrence Fox, who founded the right-wing Reclaim Party in 2020, and journalist Emma Wolfe have tweeted that they will boycott Grind in their own right.

I will never buy your products. I urge everyone who supports free speech to #BoycottGrind

Get your coffee elsewhere. Companies promoting censorship like @grind should be destroyed.

Hit them where they hurt. https://t.co/KMwXoc1FOy

— Lawrence Fox (@LozzaFox), July 6, 2023

Mr. Fox used the Twitter hashtag “#BoycottGrind”.

We contacted Grind and GB News for comment.