HossTheBoss.com

These policies became effective on April 4, 2008. We may change them occasionally, so advertisers are encouraged to check this page for updates before each order or renewal.

Hoss’s Declaration of Independence

We may occasionally refer to advertisers as “sponsors” or “supporters” of the site, but we hope such language does not imply that the advertisers necessarily approve of the site’s content. Advertisers are entitled to no special influence over what we decide to run (or not to run) in the non-advertising sections of the site.

We will always be upfront with our audience about what parts of the content of our site is paid advertising. This is another reason Hoss is an outcast of the media business. Please don’t ask Hoss to blend your ad seemlessly into the site’s other content. Such requests make him really angry, and might just end up being the subject of a blog post aimed at embarrassing you into taking a journalism class at your local community college.

Hoss’s independence is not for sale.

Advertising Acceptance Policy

Censorship is never good, so, generally, we run all ads that have been paid for. While we hope that no one will use our site to promote things that we don’t like — or use foul language in their ads — we will not deny ads for those reasons.

That said, here is why we were careful to use the word “generally” above.

Note to political consultants and PR hacks: We will refuse all ads that we believe promote a political position. One of the reasons Hoss is an outcast of the mainstream media is that he believes political advertising is a corrupting force that limits participation in democracy to those who have the biggest ad budgets. Political discussions, therefore, are very welcomed in the various (free) open forum sections of this site, but we will not allow them to appear as paid advertising.

Note to shady business people: We will also refuse ads from companies and/or people we have found to be dishonest or abusive towards visitors of our site. If we decline an ad for this reason, we will post details prominently on the site, and the ban will remain in effect until Hoss is damn well ready to lift it.

Note to bands: To protect the integrity of the choices of the music we play on our site, we will not directly solicit ads from bands and their representatives (labels, management companies, booking agencies, etc). In fact, we provide a free link in Hoss’s Music Store to all bands whose music we play on the station. We recognize, however, that bands may have a legitimate need to advertise more heavily on a site such as ours, and, accordingly, we will not turn away orders that come, unsolicited, from such sources. It’s important for everyone to understand that such orders will have no bearing on decisions about what music is featured on the site’s radio station. (See Hoss’s Declaration of Independence above.

Order Fulfillment Policy

We offer several types of ads, and they each have unique terms that we try our best to make very clear on our online order forms. If you complete a form, we assume you completely understand and agree to the terms. In general, we will begin your ad after receiving your payment and any other information or materials we need. Shortly before your ad expires, we will contact you to see if you would like to renew.

Production Policy

If your request is not too complex for our resources, we can produce your ad for free. Should you request this service, we will provide you a proof within a week and your ad will not begin until you have notified us that you approve of it. Once your ad has begun, we will honor one request for a change but may ask $25 for each additional change request. You are, of course, entitled to a new free ad production with each renewal order. We will claim no copyrights — or other legal responsibility — for any ad that we produce for you.

Billing Policy

All orders must be paid in advance using the methods listed on our online order form.

Refund Policy

Once your ad has begun, we reserve the right to deny any refund request. That said, we will consider honoring requests we feel are reasonable