Back in 2008, I blogged that Jon Stewart had been named the journalist people most admired, according to Pew Research.
So, it seems rather fitting that as Stewart makes his exit from The Daily Show, I blog today about the man who seems to be taking his place of influence, albeit on another show and channel: John Oliver.
Oliver’s commentary and calls-to-action on the HBO show Last Week Tonight have crashed web sites, increased donations and inspired new legislation.
Over the past two years, Oliver has taken the soccer/football organization, FIFA to task for their unbridled corruption. And, in Sunday’s episode, he noted that despite the clear evidence of said corruption and some arrests of top officials, FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter remained at the helm.
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Recognizing that the “only people with the power to get rid of Sepp Blatter are FIFA’s sponsors,” Oliver begged the companies to pull out until Blatter is removed.
Now, John is known for mocking certain brands and some of those brands happen to be FIFA’s sponsors.
So, on Sunday’s show, unable to stop himself from insulting the sponsors he beseeched, Oliver vowed to:
- wear one of Adidas’ “ugly” shoes, which he says will make him look “like the Greek God of aspiring DJs”
- to take a bite out of every item on McDonald’s Dollar Menu, which he says “tastes like it was cursed by a vindictive wizard”
- and to drink an entire Bud Light Lime, which he says “tastes like a puddle beneath a Long John Silver’s Dumpster”
Not exactly a page out of Dale Carnegie, here.
But, of course, just yesterday, it was announced that Blatter is being removed from his post as FIFA’s president.
While the intrepid work of the FBI’s investigators truly deserve the credit, one can’t help but wonder if the man whose Net Neutrality rant drove more than 45,000 comments to the FCC site – crashing its server, had a little something to do with the timing of Blatt’s dismissal.
After all, the sponsors he begged to leave FIFA know the power he wields when it comes to driving brand boycotts and viewer action.
So, with that, I hereby declare the new Most Powerful Man in America to be Mr. John Oliver.
And, I really look forward to watching him drink that Bud Light Lime on Sunday night.