‘Obama’s America’ producer says CNN rejected ad
The producer of the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time claims CNN rejected the film’s ad because it was “too political.”
John Sullivan, executive producer and co-director of the breakout documentary 2016: Obama’s America, says the film’s ad has run on Fox News, MSNBC, Discovery Channel, A&E and other networks, but that it was turned away by CNN. “They rejected our ad, actually,” Sullivan told EW.com. “A really weird situation. That was really funny. They said it was ‘too political,’ which is very odd because we have no affiliation with any political party of any sort, or PAC, or anything of that nature.”
CNN (which, like EW, is owned by Time Warner) confirms the filmmakers submitted the ad, but denies the commercial was “rejected.” “CNN did not reject the ad,” a network spokesperson said. “We asked them to explain why they believe the ad is not subject to political advertising disclosure requirements, and we did not hear back from them with any explanation.”
The network’s concern was a Federal Election Commission rule that states any telecast advocating for the election or defeat of a federal candidate must have its funding source revealed in a disclaimer notice (“Paid for by…”). Such notices are standard on political ads, yet might be unprecedented for a popular theatrical film. An MSNBC spokesperson said the commercial ran without a disclaimer, like a regular movie ad. “The ad was approved through NBC News standards and practices before air,” an MSNBC spokesperson said.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/08/28/cnn-2016-obama/
I thought this was interesting because I saw the ad on MSNBC earlier.
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