WSBT pulled a MoveOn.org ad because it showed a building owned by Halliburton and also noted that Chris Chocola accepted campaign funds from defense contractors. The ad also notes that Chocola voted against legislation that would have imposed penalties for intentionally overcharging the government for provision of goods and services in response to disaster, emergency, or military actions.
WSBT claims it pulled the ad because the ad implied that Chocola received money from Halliburton specifically, which he didn’t. Moveon says the implication is that he voted for legislation that benefited Halliburton, which he did.
I guess they’ll have to pull all those ads that imply you’ll get hot chicks if you just drink a lot of beer or drive the right car.
What are you saying Doug? That even if a drink a case of Coors tonight, tomorrow I’m not gonna play tag football in the Rockies with 4 gorgeous supermodels? Say it aint so!
Glad WSBT is looking out for the voters. totally misleading: “defense contractors” vs. “Halliburton” and “campaign contributions” vs. “caving to lobbyist pressures over the interests of your constituents.” To much grey. And no need to excersize some “investigative journalism” into the claims. Top of the hour… parakeet dials 911…
Two good things that come of the article: more exposure for the ad campaign (I think most people can see the nitpicky nature of the allegation that the ads are “misleading”) and the general manager of WSBT said that the two previous MoveOn ads were factually correct and verifiable; something that Chocola claimed they were not.
Update: an “edited” version of the commercials is now showing in South Bend on WSBT and WNDU. Apparently the reference to Halliburton was the only offensive piece that needed to be addressed. Just so we are clear: Chocola took money from a defense contractor and later voted against a bill that would penalize like companies that overcharge the government for services at wartime, but that contractor was NOT Halliburton.