'Representation of public figures is something we try to avoid'
Posted: November 29, 2011
7:37 pm Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2011 WND
Two television spots developed by a national investment firm specializing in U.S. gold and silver coins have been rejected by major television networks, including the Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network, for apparently political reasons.
The ads by Phoenix-based Swiss America Trading Corp., a WND advertiser, feature President Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as animated characters engaging in the potentially inflationary policy of printing paper money with abandon to stimulate the struggling economy.
Singer Pat Boone, a spokesman for Swiss America for more than 15 years, appears in the commercials as an animated announcer who concludes that investing in gold is a prudent strategy to diversify a portfolio in inflationary times.
"The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve"
Swiss America CEO Craig Smith said the intent of the ads was not to make a political statement.
The goal, he said, "was to take what we thought was a humorous approach to a timely and important economic topic in order to advertise our company and promote a new book we've recently published."
Along with Fox News and Fox Business, the two commercials have been rejected by NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC, CBS, CNN/HLN and the Discovery Channel.
Comcast, in rejecting the spot, told Swiss America that it "does not meet our standards on public symbol."
Comcast's Public Symbol Policy specifies that the "use of the name or likeness of the President of the United States and/or the Presidential Seal for endorsing commercial purposes must be authorized by the White House."
Fox News said the "representation of public figures is something we try to avoid."
CNN/HLN told Swiss America the commercials were "not appropriate for the current political landscape."
"The networks' reaction shocked me," Smith said. "It's a threat to First Amendment rights when a commercial message is rejected not because it is inaccurate or misleading, but because it makes what is perceived to be a political statement the networks want to avoid."
Smith told WND he was concerned that the networks were protecting Obama and Bernanke.
"All we are saying in these two commercials is what dozens of responsible professional economists are saying every day," Smith said. "Gold investment as a responsible diversification strategy when governments printing of fiat currencies with abandon risk unleashing inflationary principles."
Only Google TV accepted the commercials, for broadcast on the DISH Network and Direct TV satellite networks.
Google TV has planned a test in which the two ads will be broadcast 1,132 times on the DISH Network and Direct TV from Dec. 5, 2011, through Jan. 12, 2012.
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