Stations Reject TV Ads That Connect SUVs to Terrorism
truthout.org
"By Joan Lowy
Scripps Howard News Service
Wednesday 5 January 2003
Television stations in New York, Detroit and Los Angeles are refusing to air ads that link driving sport utility vehicles with supporting terrorism, producers of the ads said yesterday.
The two ads were produced for The Detroit Project, a media campaign organized by author and columnist Arianna Huffington and Hollywood movie producer Lawrence Bender, among others. Both ads were modeled on hard-hitting anti-drug public service announcements produced by the Bush administration that equate drug use with support for violence and terrorism.
In one ad, a man pumps gas into his SUV while a voice says that every time he fills up he makes money for oil companies who buy oil from countries that support terrorists. A map of the Persian Gulf shows Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran.
"What kind of mileage does your SUV get? Oil money supports some terrible things," the ad says.
The second ad, in an ironic vein, features supposed SUV owners proudly claiming responsibility for blowing up nightclubs and putting U.S. troops in harm's way. It concludes: "What is your SUV doing to national security? Detroit, America needs hybrid cars now."
Stations who have refused to air the ads are WABC in New York; WDIV in Detroit; and WABC and WCBS in Los Angeles, Huffington said.
"I guess it takes courage to go up against the auto manufacturers and some of these networks don't have that kind of guts," said Bender, who produced the hit movies "Good Will Hunting" and "Pulp Fiction."
Art Moore, programming director for WABC, said the station has a policy against running any "controversial" ads.
Officials for the three other stations declined to comment on their reasons for rejecting the ads" |
