CBS Rejects Anti-Bush Super Bowl Commercial

http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=39590

Cites Network Policy Barring Issue Ads

By Ira Teinowitz

WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) — Viacom’s CBS today rejected a request from liberal group MoveOn to air a 30-second anti-President Bush ad during the Super Bowl, saying the spot violated the Network policy.

A CBS spokesman said the decision against broadcasting the spot had nothing to do with either the Super Bowl or the ad’s specific issue but was because the network has had a long-term policy not to air issue ads anywhere on the network.

A MoveOn spokesperson said the group hopes to appeal the decision within CBS.

Produced as a personal project by Charlie Fisher, creative director of the Copenhagen, Denmark, office of Publicis Groupe ad agency Leo Burnett, the spot is critical of the Bush administration’s fiscal policies.

Anti-Bush contest

MoveOn is airing a 60-second version the commercial, which was selected through a contest calling for anti-Bush ads, in advance of President Bush’s State of the Union address Jan. 20. The group has purchased $300,000 worth of air time on Time Warner’s CNN that starts Jan. 17 and runs through Jan. 21.