dc sports
09-12-2000, 10:57 AM
What do you think? Has anyone seen the ad? Was it intentional? Does it matter?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/458703.asp
Subliminal Message in GOP Ad?
By Claire Shipman -- NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT
Sept. 12 - A television ad supporting George W. Bush’s presidential campaign flashes a subliminal slur against government officials, aides to Vice President Al Gore said Monday night. In the ad by the Republican National Committee for Bush, which NBC News has reviewed, the word “rats” can clearly be seen on the screen when a section discussing Gore’s anti-drug plan is slowed down.
SOURCES INSIDE the Bush campaign said the message was not planned. “It’s absurd to think it was intentional,” a Bush source said. “It was an editing mistake.” “They’ll read everything into anything,” Bush himself said when asked about the ad at a Tuesday campaign stop in Palm Beach, Fla.
In the ad, the word “rats” appears to emerge from the word “bureaucrats.” Republican advertising consultant Alex Castellanos, who runs the production company that produced the ad, also said the message was a mistake.
‘RODENT STRATEGY’
“They’ve uncovered our rodent strategy,” he said, laughing.
Bush said during a Tuesday appearance on ABC that he would not tell the Republican Party to pull the ad. “I don’t think there’s a plot to try to put subliminal messages into people’s minds,” the Texas governor said on “Good Morning America.”
Castellanos’ company, National Media, produces ads for the national Republican Party. The “rats” ad was produced by Cold Harbor Films, National Media’s in-house production company. The group has also produced an ad criticizing Gore’s alleged fund-raising activities at a Buddhist temple. Republicans were roundly criticized for the anti-Gore ad, which featured a female narrator lambasting Gore. In the climax of that particular ad, the narrator offers a litany of accomplishments she claims Gore took credit for before finishing: “Yeah, and I invented the remote control, too. Another round of this, and I’ll sell my television.”
The “rats” ad was paid for by the Republican National Committee - thus, the spot was requested by and created for the national party, not the Bush campaign itself. Production and distribution of the ad was funded by party “soft money,” the virtually unlimited funds available to national political parties.
GOP MEDIA STALWART
Castellanos, whose Alexandria, Va.-based company produced the ad, has done media work for five presidential campaigns, according to his Web site. Other clients have included Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. According to The Washington Post, Castellanos has been handling media buys for the Bush campaign but has not performed creative work directly for the campaign.
But Castellanos’ company has still benefited from the Bush campaign’s fund-raising largess. According to Federal Election Commission records, the Bush campaign has paid out $22.5 million to Castellanos’ National Media Inc. through the end of July for media services, primarily ad buys for the campaign, NBC News producer Robert Windrem reported early Tuesday. In fact, it appears that National Media is the single biggest recipient of Bush campaign funds, consuming nearly a fourth of all campaign expenditures.
Castellanos is no stranger to controversy over his ad work. A 1990 ad for Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., portrayed a white man tearing up a letter telling him he had been rejected for a job given to a minority applicant. The ad was targeted to highlight the politics of Helms’ opponent, Harvey Gantt, who is black.
FOUNDED BY LEE A****ER
National Media, founded by the late GOP strategist Lee A****er, claims to have produced ads for “over 100 political campaigns.” Castellanos himself is a Cuban refugee, having told people he and his family arrived in the United States with only $11 in their pockets. Aside from strictly political work, the company also does infomercials and trade ads, such as its work for “Citizens for Better Medicare,” a coalition of business groups opposed to Democratic proposals for prescription drugs.
NBC News producer Robert Windrem and MSNBC.com’s Alanna Stack and Jon Bonné contributed to this report.
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http://www.msnbc.com/news/458703.asp
Subliminal Message in GOP Ad?
By Claire Shipman -- NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT
Sept. 12 - A television ad supporting George W. Bush’s presidential campaign flashes a subliminal slur against government officials, aides to Vice President Al Gore said Monday night. In the ad by the Republican National Committee for Bush, which NBC News has reviewed, the word “rats” can clearly be seen on the screen when a section discussing Gore’s anti-drug plan is slowed down.
SOURCES INSIDE the Bush campaign said the message was not planned. “It’s absurd to think it was intentional,” a Bush source said. “It was an editing mistake.” “They’ll read everything into anything,” Bush himself said when asked about the ad at a Tuesday campaign stop in Palm Beach, Fla.
In the ad, the word “rats” appears to emerge from the word “bureaucrats.” Republican advertising consultant Alex Castellanos, who runs the production company that produced the ad, also said the message was a mistake.
‘RODENT STRATEGY’
“They’ve uncovered our rodent strategy,” he said, laughing.
Bush said during a Tuesday appearance on ABC that he would not tell the Republican Party to pull the ad. “I don’t think there’s a plot to try to put subliminal messages into people’s minds,” the Texas governor said on “Good Morning America.”
Castellanos’ company, National Media, produces ads for the national Republican Party. The “rats” ad was produced by Cold Harbor Films, National Media’s in-house production company. The group has also produced an ad criticizing Gore’s alleged fund-raising activities at a Buddhist temple. Republicans were roundly criticized for the anti-Gore ad, which featured a female narrator lambasting Gore. In the climax of that particular ad, the narrator offers a litany of accomplishments she claims Gore took credit for before finishing: “Yeah, and I invented the remote control, too. Another round of this, and I’ll sell my television.”
The “rats” ad was paid for by the Republican National Committee - thus, the spot was requested by and created for the national party, not the Bush campaign itself. Production and distribution of the ad was funded by party “soft money,” the virtually unlimited funds available to national political parties.
GOP MEDIA STALWART
Castellanos, whose Alexandria, Va.-based company produced the ad, has done media work for five presidential campaigns, according to his Web site. Other clients have included Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. According to The Washington Post, Castellanos has been handling media buys for the Bush campaign but has not performed creative work directly for the campaign.
But Castellanos’ company has still benefited from the Bush campaign’s fund-raising largess. According to Federal Election Commission records, the Bush campaign has paid out $22.5 million to Castellanos’ National Media Inc. through the end of July for media services, primarily ad buys for the campaign, NBC News producer Robert Windrem reported early Tuesday. In fact, it appears that National Media is the single biggest recipient of Bush campaign funds, consuming nearly a fourth of all campaign expenditures.
Castellanos is no stranger to controversy over his ad work. A 1990 ad for Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., portrayed a white man tearing up a letter telling him he had been rejected for a job given to a minority applicant. The ad was targeted to highlight the politics of Helms’ opponent, Harvey Gantt, who is black.
FOUNDED BY LEE A****ER
National Media, founded by the late GOP strategist Lee A****er, claims to have produced ads for “over 100 political campaigns.” Castellanos himself is a Cuban refugee, having told people he and his family arrived in the United States with only $11 in their pockets. Aside from strictly political work, the company also does infomercials and trade ads, such as its work for “Citizens for Better Medicare,” a coalition of business groups opposed to Democratic proposals for prescription drugs.
NBC News producer Robert Windrem and MSNBC.com’s Alanna Stack and Jon Bonné contributed to this report.
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