Major advertisers including AMP, Bendigo Bank, Flight Centre and Australian Super have confirmed they have stopped or are reviewing their advertising with KIIS FM’s Kyle & Jackie O Show, following a campaign by activist group Mad Fucking Witches (MFW). The group accuses the breakfast program of normalising “violent misogyny” through co-host Kyle Sandilands’ comments.
MFW launched the #VileKyle campaign in May, targeting Sandilands as the show expanded from Sydney into Melbourne. The group’s founder, Jennie Hill, said the show validates violence against women, with Sandilands speaking about women “in demeaning and objectifying and sexualised ways”. Recent episodes included a caller describing a sexual position as a “butcher’s wheelbarrow”, and Sandilands telling co-host Jackie Henderson that a man unwilling to say he would “smash you anally” was not worth knowing. He also referred to Henderson as a “hoe” and an “annoying bitch”.
ARN Media, which owns KIIS FM, defended the show. Chief content officer Duncan Campbell acknowledged it had been “overly sexualised” but said changes had been made about four weeks ago, with graphic sexual content removed. However, he stressed the show would not become “sanitised”. The show remains Sydney’s top breakfast program but has struggled in Melbourne, falling to a 5.2% audience share in the latest ratings.
AMP told campaigners that Sandilands’ sexualised comments were “behaviour … not aligned with our values” and is reviewing advertising arrangements. Flight Centre said the comments “do not align with our values” and is also reviewing its schedule. Bendigo Bank confirmed it had “discontinued advertising on this program”, while Australian Super said it was no longer advertising on the show. MFW estimates the number of advertisers has dropped from over 100 to about 70 since the campaign began.
