Posted by chicagomedia.org on August 27, 2008 at 12:06:39:
Ads promoting the presidential campaign of Illinois Senator Barack Obama were removed from numerous station Web sites on Tuesday (Aug. 26) after it came to the attention of the media buying firm that placed the ads -- Centro -- that the ads were running on the sites that also included content such as "Celebrity Tramp Stamps" and links to content categorized as "Red Light Girls," "Chicks on Toilets," and "Thong of the Day." The ads each said: "Paid for by the Democratic National Committee and Obama for America and Authorized by Obama for America."
Commenting to ClickZ news, Centro CEO Shawn Ruegsecker said, "The content on these sites is clearly objectionable and the ads should not have been displayed there. As soon as we were alerted to this issue, we removed the ads immediately. The DNC and Obama for America maintain very high editorial and content standards of where their advertising is displayed and we should not have placed an ad there." So far neither the DNC nor the Obama campaign have responded to the ads being placed.
ClickZ says that two of the stations that ran the Web ads include Clear Channel rockers WACL (98 Rock)/Harrisonburg, Va., and WQBZ (Q106)/Macon, Ga. WACL director of sales Mike Chiumento tells R&R he was "unaware" that the Obama ads ran on the Web site and was "looking into it." ClickZ also reports that the Web tracking service the Media Trust Company says the DNC placed ads on station Web sites in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia.
(R&R)